CLOSED SIDE STORY Heartless Shell -- A Rescue Mission

[PolyesterH]

Alande Vara, Helipad

Alande took a step back upon the mass of Wyverns descending upon them, and another upon Ed opening fire along with a flinch at the incredibly loud noise. He wasn't much use for combat at this point, but on the bright side this let him gather more information. He taps the side of the glasses to reset them, and pushes down two buttons on the right side of his glasses. Information was unfortunately rather scarce on whatever these creatures were, with the tools he had. They were vulnerable to those with 'strong hearts', and a certain type of artifact he couldn't identify. More interestingly, their Primal Utility emissions suggested that they were tangentially related to the principles behind that field, though they definitely were not directly related. It was an open question if they were a valid source, one he put aside for the moment. It was too dangerous to attempt extraction on creates whose natures he didn't adequately understand.

He started following the sounds of the sniper rifle down the stairs, as that indicated a friendly party. Thanks to them they may be able to skip heading into the computer control center. The volley from the jet stole this prerogative, but not distracting him enough to miss the definite presence of two Wyverns attacking the group. The temptations of scientific curiosity whisper in his ears momentarily, the opportunity was here to try. It was far easier to reject when they were out of swords reach. Regardless, he steps to the side of Ed to face down the Wyvern charging at them, standing his ground as it approaches. With Ed right behind him, Alande's manuever was considerably more pragmatic than the one before. He steps to the side at the last moment, jaws of the beast turning to catch him, and then slides under the beast and pierces vertically straight through its jaw and top of its head. In the slide, he comes out on the other side of the beast, blade retracting itself into a knife in an automatic response to prevent it from getting stuck.

 

[The Lotus Archives]

Shivaji
Below
@Wade Von Doom @rissa
Despite the flying chunks and clouds of black smoke, Shiv's face held a calm expression amidst the chaos around him. Even as he darted around the outstretched arms of a heartless and fired His pistol point blank at his cranium, his empty and detached expression didn't change. Solely focused was he on he battle before him that he almost didn't here the voice call out for them to get into the vent. ''An exit? Haro track and meet up with us as soon as you can.'' He whispered softly to the earpiece that connected him with the teal orb of a robot. Looking to their new arrival Shivaji would lay down as much cover fire as he could manage as he made his way towards the vent. He didn't see the grey haired boy until he crossed his line of sight and Shiv saw him race towards the lockers. Understanding the desire to re-equip Shiv would focus on supporting the lad and clearing his path as more heartless poured into the med bay. ​

 

[rissa]

The Grail Warden, Pip

WITHIN THE SHELL @Wade Von Doom @Valkan @The Lotus Archives


As always, it seemed, Pip found a rhythm in the chaos, a beat in the heat of the moment; in the madness of flesh and shadow and blue fluorescents, with bullets, bare fists, and kunai hailing down around her. It felt like home. It felt like hope; fighting for one's life against all else— against death, against the unknown. Pip smiled, feeling Phantasya's light swell up within her.

She could probably do it soon— once everyone was out of the way and the only ones in her path were made of malice and darkness.

One. Three. Five. Seven. Ten. Pip lost count somewhere after that, watching through her peripherals as fellow 'scattered' climbed up into the vent and hopefully out to safety. They would need to last a bit longer for all of them to escape, but with the swarm, well, it was getting harder and harder to move. Pip called out to those in the med-bay, not daring to take her eyes away from the darkness.

"I see y'all are gearin' up. C-can one of y'all grab my things? Got a small lil' leather pouch that's heavier than it ought to be and a dark grey and purple uniform and cloak!" She flung herself backwards after that, slamming into a pod as the swarm of heartless coalesced and grew stronger. Still, they needed more time. Pip took a step forward, scarily close to the swirling covalence of darkness.

"I got somethin' left in the bag, but I'll need everyone out of the way first." And with that, light expelled from her armor.

The Grail Warden slid two fingers down the length of her khukuri blade— slowly, surely, and in their wake left a blade transformed into golden light. As she did, a proclamation was made, though it was one part divine and two parts incomprehensible:

Hear me, Phantasya! I am the Grail Warden; I now lay waste to those who'd desecrate thy precious light.

With hope ever alight in her heart, Pip, the Grail Warden, finally took to battle with darkness as one should: with a sword made of light.

 

[Amber Franklin]

Dominique Moon/Vaudeville - Played by Amber Franklin

Had she seen these things before? Dominique had seen many familiar faces, some not but from places she knew well. These things however? Seeing how they made more of themselves by eating the seagulls, she has the idea to give the same trick a try with the next one she catches in her talons. Cloning herself was not possible, but a temporary bonding/eating the target had yielded results before and the symbiote agreed.

Vaudeville catches one that was diving for the group. Talons become tendrils spreading inside the thing.

"Yuck! Dead" Vaudeville exclaims over the comm channel and tears the Heartless apart in disgust. "Tried to eat one and they're dead! We don't eat the dead! Gross!"

A cry of "Oh shit." Is heard over the team comms when the jet fires at Vaudeville and despite seeing the bolts of energy and moving to evade them, they hit one of her wings and she spirals down to the ground. The others would only hear her screams and tirade of cursing until she heals, and Vaud ascends before hitting the water with a mighty beat of her wings.

"We're okay!" Vaudeville assures them. She flies back into the fray, aware that the jet is hot on her tail and firing at her. Time to try the trick that tended to work on police helicopters on her tail. Vaud bears her wings down hard to bank fast and backwards, to get behind the jet and rip it apart if it works.

If not?Well Plan B should come to her any second.

 

[LenxKaitoYaoi]

Luer sighed to himself at Ed repeating his words, but he hardly had the time to focus on it. His attention was on the sky, but he missed the one diving at him from behind him. He gave a thankful look to Vaudeville. "Thanks for that!" With those two, he felt he was of little help. So instead he turned to head for the stairs- there was nowhere else to go after all. He paused though at the screams from Vaudeville, turning to try getting eyes on her. He could help if it was needed, but she called out an assurance he breathed out in relief. Right, find shelter or something to get away from those things. Back down the stairs he goes.

 

[Valkan]

Tokui Uchiha

Tokui clicked his tongue, as regular kunais were quite literally not cutting it. the little pests just absorbed the impact, and didn't seem to worry about bleeding in any capacity. He did notice through one of his clones that more modern weapons of higher power did manage to get the job done. Tokui carefully followed the critters' movements with his sharingan as they approached him. Big mistake. All the Tokuis disappeared in a blur, their blades slicing through bugs faster than they could hide. Moving so fast, Tokui was giving the impression of being on more than four places at once, and all of them were cutting monsters with their very own blade of storm chakra. Thing is, more and more kept appearing, so this state of affairs wouldn't last long.

Thankfully, an exit popped open and Randi beckoned them to follow him. One of the ladies who came out of the pods instructed them to get moving. "Not on your own!" Tokui interjected with his voice echoing from all across the room, "Everyone else, up you go! I'll bring you your things." With that said, he started forming a perimeter around the ladder free of monsters, allowing for the pod people that remained to get there with more ease.

That said, the fight was starting to look worse and worse. The shinobi sent one of his clones to fetch the scattered's belongings. Amidst the chaos, he heard the armored woman ask for something in specific, but given he could barely fend off the overwhelming mass of enemies and cover himself and the young guy who rushed to the lockers along with him. He did grab everything he could and ran back to the circle "You two are coming with!" Said Tokui as his clone with the belongings disappeared into the shaft after everyone else had gone in. Another picked up the gray haired boy, which he hoped had managed to gear up in what little time he managed to get him, and got him through the exit. The real Tokui picked up the armored lady and did the same, quickly telling Randi "Close it, now!" Finally, the remaining clones below spewed a conjoined burst of flames from their mouths that flooded the room in seconds.

Not wasting any time, and after putting the armored lady down, Tokui asked Randi "You got a plan, or at least somewhere we can regroup?" He said that last part glancing over at the clone that held the belongings of the people of the pods using his cloak as an improvised sack.

 

[Wade Von Doom]

~~GM~~

Her banking did well at first. The heartless craft couldn't possibly turn in time to dodge her, and its bullets just missed her while she turned to fall. When her talons clawed at its wings, it would tear through the first layer of metal, but not enough to cripple the jet or keep hold of it; falling off into the air once more. The jet flew off into the clouds once more, and the heavy fog that had been approaching now finally arrived. It covered the whole strut, turning the visibility of the sky impossible with how thick it was. None of them could see beyond a couple feet, making out where the wyverns were above entirely pointless.

But their way inside was still accessible. Before the fog completely washed over, the sniper took one last shot at the wyvern guarding the end of the staircase; landing dead center in its eye. With black smoke billowing out the wound, it stumbled over the side of the railing, and fell to the water below. The last person to make it through the sliding metal door would nearly find a piece of themselves bitten off by a charging wyvern trying to cram itself through the doorway to peck at a tasty meal. Thankfully, its body was too big to fit the rest of the way.

The inside of the strut was connected wall to wall by a conveyor system that transported supplies throughout the different areas of the facility, to which it sorts the supplies to where it needs to go via the markings of its containers. The conveyors were running at max capacity, sending large cardboard boxes through the room to be scanned, processed, and then shipped to the correct strut. There was something odd about the packages, though.

A close inspection of the boxes as they passed showed the bar codes and serial numbers to be repeating. The boxes also came inside in the exact same pattern of going to strut E, B, D, C, A, E, B, D, C, A, E, B, D, C, A, like that again and again. It was like these specific boxes were stuck in a loop. If someone tried to grab one, it would feel like a regular box, but small ripples would form around it like touching still water. The box would then begin to destabilize as the ripples grew in size, until it broke apart into pieces that vanished into thin air. The same box would then reappear on the conveyor like nothing happened.

"So," a strange, booming voice would call out, "you're the ones causing such a ruckus upstairs. You ruined my nap." He sounded unimpressed and grumpy. However, spotting him wouldn't be easy, as his voice echoed around the room with no sense of where it originated from. Until they looked to the top of one of the box scanners connected to the conveyor.

It was a common rain frog. "Must humans be so loud and obnoxious? Look at that one, it's partially turning into jerky already!" It was looking at Luer. "I heard humans sometimes eat each other for sustenance, but I didn't realize they prepared themselves for it by marinating themselves in dipping sauce!" Luer was still in his human form.

"Are you planning to feed yourself to the big fellow? Or did the yellow one call dibs first? You might want to rethink that, darling, you could stand to lose the pounds." He was unimpressed by Vaud.

"You... Lack any interest to me really." Alande was spared.



------------------------------------------

Pip's light did the work. The Dark figures dancing around her suddenly backed off, as the energy it emitted was too dangerous for them. That didn't mean they would stop attacking. It was more like using a torch to shew away snakes when they surrounded you from all sides. They were just patient in finding a better opening. Still, thanks to her and Tokui's efforts, along with Shiv's covering fire, most of the awakened pod people managed to make their escape to the shaft.

The gray haired man took the time to throw open the locker and quickly see his nicely cleaned and sanitized armor neatly folded and stacked. The most he was able to get on before Tokui's clone grabbed him was his leggings. The rest he had with him, including a very lovely looking steel sword and shield, as he was abruptly taken up a ladder without his consent. He didn't fuss, but he did look very cross as he was pushed into the vent.

Once everyone was inside, Randi closed the vent door tight; shaking as the Tokui's essentially exploded fire in the med-bay. "Just follow the vent forward, my dear boy. Things are quite hectic on my end, I have to lock down the ship from my end or else risk a LOT more damage to be done. Whatever you do, once you're outside, DON'T go in the water, and DO NOT let anyone try reaching the center struct--" Suddenly his voice cut out with the quiet sound of white noise.

The vent would take several turns, but they would reach a grate that could be opened with force to get out. They would all find themselves in a large sediment pool. Two floors that spun around in a circle, the top one connecting to a center platform that controlled the valves and pumps within the room. The water below them looked to be normal, if not slightly bubbly, looking like carbonated water. They were on the buttom floor, and there looked to be three exits out. One right above them, which was to the east of the room, one heading north, and another across from them to the west. As the room was completely empty, they just needed to decide on the direction they needed to take.

 

[LenxKaitoYaoi]

Luer wasted little time in getting inside, wanting to make sure everyone else did safely and be ready to heal if he needed to- especially as that last one tried to follow them. He turned to focus on where they were, though sighed to himself again. Another damn buzzing place, and this one was loud. He jumped slightly by a voice, looking to find its source. Complaining about the noise as if they really had a choice? Who the hell was bitching about them trying to survive?

He was in some surprise that it was a frog of all things, blinking as it focused on him. "Excuse me!?" He was slightly offended. It continued on and he crossed his arms as he looked at the frog. Did this thing seriously already know he was undead? Did he look that bad now? He growled and readied an arrow, aiming at the frog. "Consider grilled frog the appetizer to that meal." He warned. If this bastard had anything helpful to say it had better do so before Luer lost the rest of his temper.

 

[The Wanderer]

DOWN BELOW:

No answer from Randi. If he wasn't around, one of the H-Robots would easily come in his place. But it was just them. One of the people getting out the pods Pip helped with was a dwarf, who wore an eyepatch and had a shaved head with a large, knotted beard. "Wha' in the name of sanity?" He asked aloud, baffled by the sights before him, and annoyed by the sounds. "Can someon' shu' tha' thing off?!" He shouted to everyone, staggering over the locked doors. "Hey! Anyone there?!" He pounded his fists against the metal, shouting as loudly as possibly, but no answer. "Hey! We're trappe' in her'! Any'ody!" On he kept shouting and pounding, until after one last smack against the door, something began to leak out.

A dark ooze slowly dripped out from the tight crack that separated the doors from each other. It leaked onto the floor, and the dwarf slowly backed away in concern. Yet, it followed him with each step back he took, until it sunk under his feet and circled around him. He turned side to side, seeing what it was doing. Then, a hand reached out from the blackness and grabbed at his foot. He screamed, trying to kick it away, only for another hand to grab his and pull him down to his knees. More hands then formed outwards to pull him into their embrace.

He continued to scream, but it was too late for him. Slowly, the color of his skin faded away, and the gown itself evaporated into nothing. When the hands moved away, what was left of the dwarf was unrecognizable. He became a creature of pure darkness.

View attachment 248029
​

If slightly adorable looking. But don't let its appearance fool you, for more of them lifted themselves out the oozing puddle of darkness to reveal themselves; forming into a group of fifteen to overwhelm everyone.

----------------------------------

UP TOP:

While the team took in their surroundings and began discussing with themselves a strategy, the faint shadows of seagulls passed them by overhead. Then a larger shadow passed over. Followed by another. And another. Suddenly the seagulls were engulfed by birds three times their size. Or, actually, calling these things birds is not entirely accurate.

They're more like Wyverns.

View attachment 248028
​

And with the heavy fog setting in more and more by the second, they used it as cover to hide. Until one took a steep dive down towards them; mouth agape to take a bite.

Dominique Moon/Vaudeville - Played by Amber Franklin

Their command of the teleportation mechanism was somewhat imperfect why Vaudeville appears in the same greenlight on the helipad as the others, but only after the winged creatures start their attack. At first, she looks out at the ocean that surrounds their destination and has a deep inhale of the air. The Pathfinder is a remarkable place, but even its advanced technology could not replicate the real feel and smell of this ocean. Just as she muses how it would be nice to go for a swim, the symbiote makes her aware of something diving for her.

The Wyvern that had intended to devour the human heart at the nougaty center of the symbiote, would be impaled through the mouth by a golden tendril that extends from her right arm. It no sooner poofs into nothing than Vaudeville extends her arms and they form into a pair of large draconic wings.

"I got air cover! Harpy mode activated!" Vaudeville announces to her team and leaps up into the air from a standing position; she beats the wings to take flight. Her feet become talons, and she uses them to tear apart a Wyvern that was going for Luer while he was aiming at another in a different direction. Ed nearly clips her with his gunfire, earning a squawk of indignation from her.

"Hey big guy! Watch the crossfire!" She yells down at Ed when swooping close enough for him to hear.

Vaudeville circles the air around the team as they move towards that door, ready to intercept wyverns midair to their prey or tear apart any that come for her. She also keeps her senses tuned to catch where their sniper cover was coming from.

Dominique Moon/Vaudeville - Played by Amber Franklin

Had she seen these things before? Dominique had seen many familiar faces, some not but from places she knew well. These things however? Seeing how they made more of themselves by eating the seagulls, she has the idea to give the same trick a try with the next one she catches in her talons. Cloning herself was not possible, but a temporary bonding/eating the target had yielded results before and the symbiote agreed.

Vaudeville catches one that was diving for the group. Talons become tendrils spreading inside the thing.

"Yuck! Dead" Vaudeville exclaims over the comm channel and tears the Heartless apart in disgust. "Tried to eat one and they're dead! We don't eat the dead! Gross!"

A cry of "Oh shit." Is heard over the team comms when the jet fires at Vaudeville and despite seeing the bolts of energy and moving to evade them, they hit one of her wings and she spirals down to the ground. The others would only hear her screams and tirade of cursing until she heals, and Vaud ascends before hitting the water with a mighty beat of her wings.

"We're okay!" Vaudeville assures them. She flies back into the fray, aware that the jet is hot on her tail and firing at her. Time to try the trick that tended to work on police helicopters on her tail. Vaud bears her wings down hard to bank fast and backwards, to get behind the jet and rip it apart if it works.

If not?Well Plan B should come to her any second.

~~GM~~

Her banking did well at first. The heartless craft couldn't possibly turn in time to dodge her, and its bullets just missed her while she turned to fall. When her talons clawed at its wings, it would tear through the first layer of metal, but not enough to cripple the jet or keep hold of it; falling off into the air once more. The jet flew off into the clouds once more, and the heavy fog that had been approaching now finally arrived. It covered the whole strut, turning the visibility of the sky impossible with how thick it was. None of them could see beyond a couple feet, making out where the wyverns were above entirely pointless.

But their way inside was still accessible. Before the fog completely washed over, the sniper took one last shot at the wyvern guarding the end of the staircase; landing dead center in its eye. With black smoke billowing out the wound, it stumbled over the side of the railing, and fell to the water below. The last person to make it through the sliding metal door would nearly find a piece of themselves bitten off by a charging wyvern trying to cram itself through the doorway to peck at a tasty meal. Thankfully, its body was too big to fit the rest of the way.

The inside of the strut was connected wall to wall by a conveyor system that transported supplies throughout the different areas of the facility, to which it sorts the supplies to where it needs to go via the markings of its containers. The conveyors were running at max capacity, sending large cardboard boxes through the room to be scanned, processed, and then shipped to the correct strut. There was something odd about the packages, though.

A close inspection of the boxes as they passed showed the bar codes and serial numbers to be repeating. The boxes also came inside in the exact same pattern of going to strut E, B, D, C, A, E, B, D, C, A, E, B, D, C, A, like that again and again. It was like these specific boxes were stuck in a loop. If someone tried to grab one, it would feel like a regular box, but small ripples would form around it like touching still water. The box would then begin to destabilize as the ripples grew in size, until it broke apart into pieces that vanished into thin air. The same box would then reappear on the conveyor like nothing happened.

"So," a strange, booming voice would call out, "you're the ones causing such a ruckus upstairs. You ruined my nap." He sounded unimpressed and grumpy. However, spotting him wouldn't be easy, as his voice echoed around the room with no sense of where it originated from. Until they looked to the top of one of the box scanners connected to the conveyor.

View attachment 249049It was a common rain frog. "Must humans be so loud and obnoxious? Look at that one, it's partially turning into jerky already!" It was looking at Luer. "I heard humans sometimes eat each other for sustenance, but I didn't realize they prepared themselves for it by marinating themselves in dipping sauce!" Luer was still in his human form.

"Are you planning to feed yourself to the big fellow? Or did the yellow one call dibs first? You might want to rethink that, darling, you could stand to lose the pounds." He was unimpressed by Vaud.

"You... Lack any interest to me really." Alande was spared.



------------------------------------------

Pip's light did the work. The Dark figures dancing around her suddenly backed off, as the energy it emitted was too dangerous for them. That didn't mean they would stop attacking. It was more like using a torch to shew away snakes when they surrounded you from all sides. They were just patient in finding a better opening. Still, thanks to her and Tokui's efforts, along with Shiv's covering fire, most of the awakened pod people managed to make their escape to the shaft.

The gray haired man took the time to throw open the locker and quickly see his nicely cleaned and sanitized armor neatly folded and stacked. The most he was able to get on before Tokui's clone grabbed him was his leggings. The rest he had with him, including a very lovely looking steel sword and shield, as he was abruptly taken up a ladder without his consent. He didn't fuss, but he did look very cross as he was pushed into the vent.

Once everyone was inside, Randi closed the vent door tight; shaking as the Tokui's essentially exploded fire in the med-bay. "Just follow the vent forward, my dear boy. Things are quite hectic on my end, I have to lock down the ship from my end or else risk a LOT more damage to be done. Whatever you do, once you're outside, DON'T go in the water, and DO NOT let anyone try reaching the center struct--" Suddenly his voice cut out with the quiet sound of white noise.

The vent would take several turns, but they would reach a grate that could be opened with force to get out. They would all find themselves in a large sediment pool. Two floors that spun around in a circle, the top one connecting to a center platform that controlled the valves and pumps within the room. The water below them looked to be normal, if not slightly bubbly, looking like carbonated water. They were on the buttom floor, and there looked to be three exits out. One right above them, which was to the east of the room, one heading north, and another across from them to the west. As the room was completely empty, they just needed to decide on the direction they needed to take.

Ed

Ed was busy in trying to shoot more of the flying ones that he had nearly hit Vaud, an incident that caused him to hollar out. "Sorry, lil'un!" He'd halt in his firing to make his way down the stairs gingerly as the jet looking thing went after Vaud. Ed would attempt to zero in the jet creature but it moved too fast for Ed to properly track so he would growl to himself as he follow after the others, using his body to provide a shield if needed before they were inside of the building. Ed was beyond apprehensive about going into a such a cramped space but the concern for the lil'uns abated any fear of cramped spaces that Ogryns had.

He would do a count of the gathered folks, or at least he tried after letting the gun hang down in its sling. He couldn't count to high numbers so he instead looked at the gathered party and said their names. "Luer...Alande...Vaud?" He would speak out after seeing that the strange lady wasn't there, Ed got concerned and made his way for the door when a creature landed on the railing. Having nothing but his bare hands, Ed would grab the creature and with the strength that an Ogryn had, he'd pull the creature apart easily despite it putting up a fight. Black smoke coming out before the creature vanishing. Ed felt dissappointed again but he was quickly distracted by Vaud flying around with grace and ripping the jet up before it flew off as Vaud joined them. A creature attempted to cram itself in but would find a mace meeting its skull from Ed, the strike producing a visceral meaty thwack-crack. The creature spasming due to having its skull bashed in but not quite killing it.

Ed was about to bash it one more time when he heard someone speak that wasn't them. So the creature would be left to spasm in the doorway, a barricade of sorts as Ed would lumber off to see the source of the new voice. Confusion was had immediately. Mainly because the source was a small frog creature that spoke mean to them all. Ed was contemplating smashing the small creature but Luer had began to aim his bow.

@Wade Von Doom @Amber Franklin @LenxKaitoYaoi @PolyesterH

 

[rissa]

The Grail Warden, Pip

WITHIN THE SHELL @Wade Von Doom @Valkan @The Lotus Archives


There was the tense stare into the abyss, face to face with amalgamized darkness— the metaphorical war between light and shadow —and then she was in the air. Lifted bodily and hauled away, and she couldn't help but let out a small squeak when her feet left the ground. Her gear was plopped into her lap once she and everyone else was safe behind the hatch of a large incendiary blast and Pip sat there for a moment dazed, struggling to keep hold on her transformation.

Usually, I'm the one swoopin' others off their feet.

Thankfully, she didn't have much time to ponder the thought. Randi's voice cut out suddenly and ominously and they had nothing else better to do than to move forward. When that was halted by a choice— three choices —Pip's brain flatlined. She always went left on instinct, but this was a group decision if she'd ever seen one. A tactical one to boot.

Life or death even!

A jittery chill traveled up the length of Pip's spine and she danced on the spot as she put on her uniform and robe, waiting for everyone to gather together and catch up in the center of the room.

"Does anyone have divination magic that'll allow them to see the passageways ahead?"

 

[Wade Von Doom]

"Oh, what a shock, the human gets offended, and the first thing he does is threaten to kill the messenger," the frog told Luer in a sarcastic tone. "Go ahead, waste your precious arrows on the little frog you deem to be such a danger, you're willing to kill a thing twelve times smaller than you. Or, you can put the toy away, and actually ask some questions instead of thinking about appetizers." It was unimpressed by Luer, to say the least.

"Here's an example: What are the creatures flying around outside? Answer: They're called 'Heartless,' creatures that are manifestations of the darkness in living beings hearts. Now you try asking one."

---------------


The young lad that saved Pip had taken the moment to put the rest of his armor on. It was a striking set of polished steel gauntlets, shoulder guards, chest plate and helm, connected by chain mail and adorn with absolute green cloth, with study leather boots to match. It transformed the skinny, yet muscular man in a proper opposing presence.

At the same time, however, the other scattered that were rescued were on the verge of panic. They had no idea where they were, most hadn't the chance to grab their equipment like Pip and the others, and now they were being hunt down by these strange, dark creatures. "U-Uh... no," one spoke up, with the others remaining quiet to get their breath back.

The Knight, seeing Pip pace in place, also thought she was panicking. He reached into one of his back pouches, and pulled out a large piece of, what looked like, mushroom. It was shaped like a big block of cheese, yet the texture of it looked like it was been ripped of a large mushroom the size of a human body.

Pulling out a knife next, the knight cut off a small piece, and handed it to Pip. "Eat," he simply told her. He cut off more pieces to hand to the others. If they ingested it, they would feel more relaxed and calm, almost euphoric. Although the taste was a bit... 'Blegh.'

"Roy," he finally introduced himself, looking right at Pip.

 

[PolyesterH]

Alande Vara

Alande had been the last one in, making sure that Ed and Luer had gotten in first. He had correctly trusted that he would be able to get in without issue, the snap of the jaw behind him and the lack of pain an indication that he was right. He got in his feet with a grin as he heard the frog speak, lifting up the glasses as they speak. He switches on the life setting, his grin maintaining as the frog went over everyone to take jabs at them. He eagerly awaited his own judgement as the dagger extended and folded back into a cane.

The frogs words of him smacked Alande on the head, and in truth had hurt him more than really anything else the frog could say. He could have tolerated being told that he was evil, someone being wrong about him was commonplace. But no, he was boring, a note in the background more than a man. Had he lost his touch over the years? Was he trying too hard to be outgoing and dynamic? Was he really that concerned about his self perception that this was what he was thinking about rather than the fact he was told this by a talking frog? He clenched his teeth, simply letting Luer escalate the situation and Ed to stand there awkwardly.

He let the question and answer from the frog go, and takes the deep breath. He needed to get a hold of himself. Get back on the task and stop thinking about what the frog said. He stuck out his arm in front of Luer's aim and opened his mouth, "We're here on a rescue mission. There's a bunch of people in this facility, do you know where they are?" He asked with a forcibly steady tone, as he grasped onto his ego and held it back.

 

[rissa]

The Grail Warden, Pip

WITHIN THE SHELL @Wade Von Doom @Valkan @The Lotus Archives


Piper was a tad jealous watching the knight don his armor. It seemed like a methodical process— a meditative one, and though it was slow, there was something nice about seeing the visage come together bit by bit, as though it was telling a story with each clasp tied. It didn't register to Pip that she may have looked nervous dancing from foot to foot, so the offer of sustenance was just that and Pip ate it up happily. At first, anyways.

She turned her head and made a face, not wanting to seem rude or ungrateful. Pip managed to swallow it down but didn't care to ask for seconds— the taste was, well, almost foul. Still, any little bit helped keep up her transformation, so she was in his debt. They all were.

"My name's Pip," she said happily, beaming at him. "Ya' know, I feel great. A lil' bit of food really was all I needed." Pip wasn't exactly lying... but perhaps she wasn't telling the whole truth either. She felt more than great.

The Wardens of Phantasya all produce various colored lights and for Pip, that color was a soft, subtle rose-gold. There was a constant shedding of light while transformed but the harsh fluorescents easily washed it away. No longer, however. As Pip's euphoria grew, so did the capacity of her power— the capacity for hope. Light radiated from her but so too did a soft warmth, spiritually... emotionally. A few 'scattered' had made their way to her unconsciously, confused but like Pip, absolutely thrilled now that mushroom hours had begun.

"Don't worry everyone, everything's gunna be okay."

A difficult thing to believe but absolutely everything one hoped to hear.

 

[Wade Von Doom]

Alande Vara

Alande had been the last one in, making sure that Ed and Luer had gotten in first. He had correctly trusted that he would be able to get in without issue, the snap of the jaw behind him and the lack of pain an indication that he was right. He got in his feet with a grin as he heard the frog speak, lifting up the glasses as they speak. He switches on the life setting, his grin maintaining as the frog went over everyone to take jabs at them. He eagerly awaited his own judgement as the dagger extended and folded back into a cane.

The frogs words of him smacked Alande on the head, and in truth had hurt him more than really anything else the frog could say. He could have tolerated being told that he was evil, someone being wrong about him was commonplace. But no, he was boring, a note in the background more than a man. Had he lost his touch over the years? Was he trying too hard to be outgoing and dynamic? Was he really that concerned about his self perception that this was what he was thinking about rather than the fact he was told this by a talking frog? He clenched his teeth, simply letting Luer escalate the situation and Ed to stand there awkwardly.

He let the question and answer from the frog go, and takes the deep breath. He needed to get a hold of himself. Get back on the task and stop thinking about what the frog said. He stuck out his arm in front of Luer's aim and opened his mouth, "We're here on a rescue mission. There's a bunch of people in this facility, do you know where they are?" He asked with a forcibly steady tone, as he grasped onto his ego and held it back.

"Ah, good! You are capable of asking questions! Smart ones at that! Just a shame it came from the least interesting man in your party." The frog went from impressed to unimpressed in its tone without missing a beat.

"I'll assume you mean the other random assortment of 'scattered' wondering about the place, in which case, I do. And you're in luck as well. They're in Strut D, which is right next door to Strut E, which is where you're in now. It's a simple hop, skip and a jump across the bridge through the back door there," he pointed his little frog finger to the far exit behind him, north east side of the room. "'Course, when I say simple, you do have to deal with those Wyverns outside. And with that fog, good luck trying to spot them."

 

[The Lotus Archives]

Shivaji
Below - can't @ for some reason and not sure what to do with ma lad lol)

With weapons pointed at the vent, Shivaji waited for a few moments to make sure they weren't followed before he sighed and gave himself a moment to dress. The armoured pilot suit felt way better than the paper gown he had been in. He would look at the others, his mind taking stock of his surroundings and the people he found himself now travelling with.

''Knights, Shinobi, magic killer shadows.''

He said softly to himself as he picked up his guns and put them into the holsters at his hips. Seeing the offering he would raise his hand and shake his head. His mind focusing on finding his mobile suit and getting out of their current location. After that he could figure out where he
was.​

 

[PolyesterH]

Alande Vara

Well, good news is that the other group was adjacent to this cell. The bad news was exactly as the frog had pointed out, the fog was a considerable obstacle. He pinches his chin. Given that fog was made out of water vapor, a dehumidifier would be able to take care of some of the fog. However, only in a limited area around it. Additionally, they tended to work rather slowly. Hyper-tech could provide a solution, but he'd need to cool down the water vapor into a liquid. He could attract it in an area using Entropic Science principles, and allow the natural process of condensation to do some of the work. Ideally if he could not cool the vapor rapidly, he could instead compress it. But again, he lacked the means.

He blinks, finally grinning and snapping his fingers. "Its trivial, we need to get rid of the water vapor.," he remarked. What he wanted was for the most part already present. Oxygen, and hydrogen together made an odorless gas that unlike water vapor, would not condense and form fog clouds on the ground. He'd essentially be taking advantage of an existing possibility, thereby bypassing the need to compress or condense the vapor. Instead, he'd simply break apart the water into oxygen and hydrogen. "Basic chemistry."

He would need a power source, however. Sapping from the facility didn't seem like a great idea. He adjusted his glasses again as he paced around, stopping dead in his tracks and looking at the Heartless. Its energy resonance was very similar to the ones behind Prime Utility Theory. It was worth a shot to use it as the power source. "Keep that Heartless alive, I'll need it," he orders. Looking around the rest of the room gave him significantly less confidence. Attempting to grab the boxes in particular was a severe disappointment, as they literally disappeared in his hands. Though, perhaps the conveyor belt themselves could be deconstructed and repurposed for the machine.

He turns to the frog and asks a question, "Is there going to be an immediate issue if I take apart the conveyor belts?"

 

[LenxKaitoYaoi]

Luer spared a look in Alande's direction as he blocked his aim. He tsk'd as he dropped his aim, rolling his eyes. That damn frog surely is not the only thing around here that had answers. "I would be more inclined to associate if I were not so rudely addressed." He grumbled, huffing to himself as he turned his gaze to their surroundings instead. Why the hell was he even here?

When Alande seemingly got excited and began talking to himself, the archer sighed and shook his head. The fog was less a concern than the Heartless. It was apparent they could find them in the fog, which was a bigger threat in the archer's opinion. "Do we really have the time for that? Would it not just be easier to get a distraction for them and make a run for it?"

 

[PolyesterH]

Alande stops in his exited mannerisms and looks at Luer with a critical eye. It was clear on some level he didn't appreciate his thought process being questioned, but that was more of a product of who Luer was rather than a general rule. Dismissively he waves his hand at their point. "To see if the distraction is working we need to see them. I'm not running across on 'faith' that they'll fall for a distraction, especially when some type of extra-normal sensory methods are likely. They aren't reliant on the visible spectrum," blinking interupts his lecture. Thermal vision. One would think it would be outside of his reach. However, this was not entirely the case.

"There is a faster solution," he states simply with a smirk before taking a seat on the floor and opening his laptop. Plenty of animals could see into the infrared spectrum. It was a simple matter of genetics to steal that fire from them. "I will give myself the ability to see through the fog and notify you if the distraction works. You may come up with one."

With that, he got to work on creating his procedure. Tapping away on the laptop.

 

[The Wanderer]

Ed

Ed did his best to follow with the conversation but words were used that he didn't quite understand, and experience told him that stopping the discussion would only lead to everyone getting frustrated at him, so Ed kept quiet. The Ogryn busied himself with just fiddling with his gun, making sure that the right bits go in the right section and nothing was jamming the gun. He would eventually wander around, knocking boxes over by accident with his massive frame before he'd walk back to the group, namely the still spasming creature stuck in the doorway, part of him still wanting to crunch its head with his mace but Alande would speak to not kill it just yet, causing Ed to feel frustrated as he felt more and more impatient. He wished he had a thing of potatoes to peel to at least keep himself busy.

But thankfully more simpler words came up about a distraction being needed. So Ed would raise his fist and put it against his chest. "I will be distraction. You lil'uns are too small and easy to hurt unlike Ogryn. I can handle being clawed, any creature that comes close will get crunched!" Ed would chuckle to himself at the thought of bashing more of these creatures with his mace.

Plus what would be a better distraction than a ten-foot tall giant?

@PolyesterH @LenxKaitoYaoi @Wade Von Doom @Amber Franklin

 

[Wade Von Doom]

~~GM~~

STRUT D

Under his helmet, all Roy did was stare at her with a baffling look of, 'the hell?...' Thankfully, she couldn't see it. Such moments of optimism for him usually resulted in horrible and tragic moments, resulting in life crushing nihilism. People dying again and again, turning to hollows bereft of any remnants of their previous selves, only to be slain by those repeating that cycle without realization. But that thinking wasn't helpful right now. They needed somewhere to go, and they had three options. East, west, and north.

The usual method Roy took was the simplest one: Whichever he saw first.

In this case, the west one opposite them all. Without telling anyone, he walked up the flight of stairs closest to them to the upper floor and walked across the room until he reach the doorway. He was so quick, no one would have noticed he left. The door slid open once he was close enough, and two things were standing in front of him. The first was the heavy fog, so thick that it obscured everything within a foot of his eyesight. The second was a man.

A man dressed in a large, heavy duster. He was bald, and a thick goatee beard with small strands of gray and white at the edge of his chin. He was short, about Roy's size, and as Roy moved his hand to grab for his hilt, the man was quicker on the draw.

BANG BANG

Two shots in the upper chest. The bullets ripped through his chest plate like paper, even blowing holes out his back. Roy then toppled over like a falling tree, his body shedding away into ash and exploding like a puff of smoke upon hitting the floor. Nothing remained of him but a pile of white ash like his body was burned away. The men then gently kicked the pile out of his way and strolled across the bridge; twirling the pistol with his trigger finger.

"これは何だ？この失われた世界の一部をさまよう失われた魂？" He spoke in fluent Japanese, yet for some reason couldn't be translated. "ご心配なく。心臓が体から引き剥がされれば、もう迷うことはない。そして、この欠けた世界の欠片は、再び世界を完全にするために戻される。" With a flourish, he whipped the pistol back into the grip of his hand. The room then began to darken, as black figures formed out from the shadows. These weren't more of those creatures from the medbay. These were human looking. Yet still looked corrupted by whatever darkness had infested this place.

​

Weapons were formed in their hands. AN94 Assault Rifles. "攻撃だ！" The mystery man shouted. There were ten in total, five on the upper level, five on their level. They were quick to take aim, as well the mystery man, in particular taking shots at Pip first.