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apocalypsehowcomm2023-06-16 07:57 am
Event - The 25,000 Light Year View
The atmosphere in the lower level gym at ADI headquarters is… tense, to say the least. Nia, Neil, and Rae are present with the rest of those remaining at the organization (or willing to come when called by Neil and Rae for a final statement) seated in benches and chairs that have been dragged in. It's not the usual, orderly meetings that some might have gotten used to for mission briefings.
Neil speaks first. "Thank you, everyone, for coming in. Lot's been happening, but we've come to… an understanding about where we need to go. The artifacts that were in the Vault have all been accounted for or noted as destroyed in some manner with a few exceptions. We're still chasing- ADI is still chasing those down with help from anyone who might want to give it. Won't pretend this is going to be a kumbaya moment, so let's get down to brass tacks. There's an apocalypse on. Whatever this organizations stands for now, its original mission was to uncover and stop those. That's still my mission."
"Mine, too," Rae chimes in.
"It's one we all share," Nia adds.
Neil nods before continuing. "So, we stop this, and we go our separate ways. I'll be leaving ADI and starting my own organization. We've seen a large number of threats in the Appalachian region and a lot of folks heavily impacted by decisions ADI's made. I'll be taking my organization there. Already been in touch with our- with ADI's field agents in the region. Some will be joining me. Along with a certain newsperson who keeps sniffing around. We'll do what we can to do right by the people who've been hurt most. That's going to be our focus. Support and security. We're not feeding the Hunt anymore by running down threats."
Rae steps up next. "And I'll be going where I need to. Lot of threats out west. If you're looking to do some good that won't be working for the Hunt… maybe think about heading that way."
Nia is the last to speak. "And I'll be staying here in Gloucester. ADI will be staying. And I will be its final Warden. We're stopping Zyrian, then we're figuring out what the hell is going on with Dogtown to get all of you people from other worlds home. Or at least stop anyone else coming in. After that? I'm out. What happens after that is still in the works. But Neil's agreed to stay in touch to help with everything… once I'm gone." There's a flicker of emotion across Neil's stoic expression. Regret, frustration… grief. "But right now, we look to Wolf Trap. I-"
There's a pause, and Neil and Rae look to Nia in concern as she puts a hand to her temple. She recovers, though. "Huh… We look to Wolf Trap, Virginia. We'll have buses to get everyone down there. We'll be arriving just as Copernicus' launch of the New Horizon's project is underway. That's where Zyrian Steel's going to do his ritual. We need to find the server rooms at the event. Those are important."
Rae squints at Nia, "You sure?"
Nia nods. "Yeah. I'm real sure about that. It'll be dangerous, though, and that's not the- it's not the only threat that's gonna be there."
Neil's looking wary. "Nia?"
"There's something else. The Web? It's not just the Vast that's involved in this, I don't think. It would make sense, right?" She shakes her head. "We'll be facing multiple Entity threats down there, not just the Vast. And I'm sure Zyrian's gonna kick the ritual off on the last day, once he's had time for-for something… not sure what. But he's a dramatic bastard, if nothing else. And timing's everything."
Neil and Rae exchange uncertain looks before Neil speaks up again. "Coming is voluntary, like always, but we'll want boots on the ground to cover as much ground as possible. They'll be holding the biggest events and productions at the Filene Center stage. But we're expecting tech booths scattered all throughout the park. Be on your guard."
"And bring a gun," Rae advises.
(click the map for a larger version)
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It takes her eyes off the clearing. Just for a few seconds, just long enough to catch the shifting of wires as something slithers through the tangle, catch the gleam of light on copper.
She swears under her breath, grip shifting on the batons that serve as her second-favourite melee weapon, rather more use against metal creatures than her more customary knives.
"We're being surrounded," she says, voice flat, all pretense of humour gone.
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Especially not with what comes next. Thank goodness for teammates, because Cortana certainly wouldn't have noticed the snakes creeping up on them on her own. She glances back, observes the little flashes of copper sparkle, and swears.
"How about you guys get the ones behind us and I go for the ones in front?" For anyone sufficiently attentive it shouldn't be a surprise that she wants to go after the ones surrounding Steel: it was even mentioned in the conversation that Pam leaked how he had used the help he'd given her as a way to coerce ADI into furthering his plans. Yelena and her share some of their closest friends, so she might even know about the killswitch the bastard snuck into her among her most delicate sensors. If allowed, she's absolutely going to kill him before the others can get to it.
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Ahem.
Ordinarily Elidibus would be far more polite, but the snakes are closing in from behind and one of their own number seems hell-bent on motivated revenge. Once the ward is completed, Cortana will find herself answered.
"Other than assurance I am capable in combat, I know of nothing I need immediately mention."
Support magic, mental support. It fits a theme at least?
Elidibus turns to face the sound of snakes slithering up from behind. But through a circumspect nature, he addresses the matter of Cortana's intention to take on Steel... by addressing Yelena.
"If you will join Cortana against our foes in the front, I will guard our rear. I suspect the former will be the more difficult challenge." For a number of reasons that don't necessarily have to do with Zyrian Steel.
While he wasn't a close friend to Cortana, what little information he does have, including her current inclination for revenge, suggests it is best she is the one with more support.
The choice is ultimately left to Yelena however and Elidibus steps forward to meet the beasts she had alerted them all to. In the dim red light, the faint, natural blue glow of his eyes seems more pronounced as he risks slipping his sight toward extant signatures of life. Or perhaps in this case the approximation of it? Regardless, the nearest of the snakes trying to sneak through the wires at this point will be met with readied shield and an experienced sweep of the sword's blade. trying to cut through the wiring they hide underneath and their bodies.
Despite his confidence in the wards, he knows well that this may earn him a shock and is braced for it.
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Others surge in, ready to snap at heels and deliver what would usually be a jolt hard enough to bring a person down. They attack from behind, the clearing still seemingly empty of snakes other than the ones piled on Zyrian himself. Suspiciously empty, perhaps, a too-neat route to escape and revenge in among servers draped with yet more wires. Still, it will be a split second decision: stand and fight the snakes behind, or plunge into the clearing?
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As Elidibus plants himself with sword and shield in the path of the oncoming snakes, Yelena flashes Cortana a razor-edged smile.
"I'll spring the trap," she says. "If you can find an opening, drop the son of a bitch."
And she darts for the bier and its honour guard of snakes, aiming to bait enough of them into lunging for the immediate target that she can draw them off and make a hole in the defenses.
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"On it."
She lets Yelena take that first move, watching intently for anything that might go wrong. She's not precisely expecting any dangers beyond the obvious snakes, but she's spent enough time on the battlefield to be wary regardless.
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He can focus on the fast approaching snakes in the wires.
But this plan will not last long. Not because of the risk the creatures posed; he'd braced somewhat and the ward held against most of the shock. And from fighting such creatures on his way through the maze he'd almost become accustomed to the spitting sparks that threatened to set his robes aflame and scored his skin.
However the snakes were many and fast. And.... pushing to the all too tempting clearing where the core seemed to rest with barely any guard. While it was easily recognized as a potential trap (why else urge Yelena to follow Cortana for support when it seemed such a simple task compared to the reinforcements?), it quickly became apparent that the option of staying outside while observing whatever sprung around the two women- and thus perhaps be able to easily draw them out- was rapidly becoming an impossibility.
Elidibus may wish he had his full power and abilities to bring to bear. But he would not waste time wishing for something he'd long accepted was not going to happen. Certainly not without great cost to some eldritch divinity.
Of course there's a possibility there isn't a trap. Right? Sure there is. While Elidibus doesn't turn immediately to face Zyrian's resting place, he does quickly backstep to follow the other two. Another swipe of his blade to cut a warning or cut wiry 'flesh'. On his lips another spell follows, meant to try and catch a wider range of the creatures in a flash of unaspected energy.
Though he will be the third to cross into the clearing, he'll be making the effort to follow quickly. Whether this will win him the prize of whatever fate Cortana and Yelena face or leave him remaining the sole bastion against the mass of snakes without...
Well that will depend greatly on what happens after whatever invisible line is crossed.
[ooc: Helpful blurb! In-canon unaspected energy just means it has no particular elemental leaning.
Elidibus will be entering 'last' so whether he gets caught by whatever Yelena and Cortana run into other than wire noodles and sleepy millionaires depends on what.... well, actually occurs? It is just fine if he gets caught. Or trapped surrounded by noodle.]
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The mob of snakes reach Cortana and Elidibus as the wires descend on Yelena, converging on Elidibus in particular--with his sword cleaving through more of them and his magic leaving others simply inert, they seem to deem him the greatest immediate threat. Unfortunately for Elidibus, that means he's got a mass of spark-spitting wires following and snapping at his ankles even as he retreats into the clearing, with only a handful of strays taking potshots at Cortana.
As for Cortana, she has an opening. The wire snakes atop Zyrian remain, but the electrical cords going after Yelena are too few to snag a second person while they're still fighting with the first, and the snakes intent on taking them down or herding them into the clearing haven't yet recognized Cortana as a priority, or perhaps even as a threat. Unfortunately, the ward is working overtime protecting Elidibus from the snakes at his feet, and its end is drawing near.
[OOC: You've got one round of replies before the ward gives out!]
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Most is not all, however, and several loop around her left arm as she comes up again, arresting her momentum with a jarring wrench that forces a hiss of pain through her teeth. Unseasonably dressed in heavy leather as she is, there's not a lot of skin to root into, which leaves her scrabbling to wrench the coils free in hopes of preventing them burrowing.
If she can't get loose, she's in deep trouble. Then again, if this particular trap is focused on her, that at least leaves Cortana and Elidibus no worse off than when they'd started.
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"Dammit!"
...It's not really much of a decision. She has no idea what other obstacles might surprise her on the way to Steel's resting place or how long it will take her to actually kill him and Yelena needs her help now and she is not going to let that asshole crack open another person's mind if she can help it.
So she changes trajectory, and runs toward Yelena instead of her original objective, reaching out to tear those wires from her arm with only minimal care for the damage she might do-a bit of bruising or dislocation is nothing compared to what will happen if they manage to burrow into her-and all the force an angry robot can muster.
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as tankto catch the attention of aggressors so the other two may focus on Zyrian Steel.This would also include the wires which seek to ensnare Yelena, though Cortana is able to more quickly react and chance course. This does not mean Elidibus will not.
"Cortana, return to your assault on Zyrian Steel!" he says with sharp authority. "I will aid the woman." The silver-haired man pivots and sweeps his blade in an effort cut through what wires remain attached to Yelena. The shield is leveled to deflect the worst of the snakes' next assault, though he can feel the ward's magicks failing.
"The ward will soon shatter. We must finish this. I will give you one last protection."
The arts of his martial talents included what this world would consider very magical or supernatural. It was normal even for the mortals of his world but here it came with the cost of feeding his patron with fear. And Elidibus had done so, saving before the mission so that he would have access to at least that level of ability along with a few tricks here and there.
This one last trick will be easily read by his companions. But even so, his words seemed to have been directed to Cortana alone, as it had become easy for him to discern that Yelena intended to give the AI honors in the strike against Steel. So too would he.
With a gesture of his sword, a tendril of energy connects Elidibus to Cortana. For a span of several seconds, all damage Cortana may feel or take would be redirected to Elidibus himself.
Even with what scant abilities currently remain to mitigate the worst of it, with the assault of the snakes included, it is abundantly clear he intends to sacrifice his personal well-being to sustain Cortana.
Yelena is largely on her own, but given the bulk of the foes' wrath has centered on Elidibus, it is a vulnerability that he likely took into his calculations along with quickly his dwindling resources. He is hardly frozen in place and continues to defend and strike with sword and shield, but it will not be pleasant.
[Buff: Cover on Cortana (all damage will be redirected to Elidibus)]
[OOC: Cover lasts about 10-12 seconds, or until Elidibus falls. Which will likely before 10-12 seconds considering sustained damage even with remaining fancy self-mitigation skills. Yelena is left to her own devices/defense other than what his sword and shield deflects. Make it count!]
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Those wires will snap one by one under Cortana's assault, but there are enough of them bunched together in this coil that human bone may very well snap along with them. It's not fast enough; the wires are too many to break by brute force--until Elidibus's sword cleaves them above Yelena's head. With that, Yelena is freed for the moment and the thinner coils around Cortana's arms will be easy enough to break. With the two of them so close together the wires could switch their focus to either woman in the next moments unless both immediately make a run for it--there are fewer now to contend with, but still plenty to catch and pin a single struggling person.
With his focus on Cortana, Elidibus is left open to an attack from behind. A copper wire snake strikes and lands a bite on his ankle, dulled by his ward but still painful. The first ward shatters all at once, leaving the three unprotected but for that tendril of light linking Cortana to Elidibus.
[OOC: PG, the extent of Yelena's injuries in getting freed from the coil is up to your discretion: it can be as minor as bruises or as major as broken bones or a dislocated shoulder.]
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"Deal with Steel," she says to Cortana, voice gone sandpaper rough. "I'll try to lead them away. If he dies, I'm thinking they'll stop trying to eat anyone."
She's less than optimally graceful as she veers off at an angle from the bier, shoulders rounded in a protective hunch that isn't feigned so much as exaggerated, in hopes that whatever sentience or programming controls the wires will react as most living creatures would - by attempting to pick off the weakest link before refocusing on her companions.
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"Shit." She's not precisely guilty, but she is angry with herself for letting fear get the best of her.
"On it!" She'll break into a run towards Zyrian on his platform, trying to make the best of the time she's been afforded.
(Sorry for my delay!)
There's a strike or two dedicated to just that. Wires or snakes that might whip toward Cortana are neatly slashed at. But the enemies overwhelm and one particular copper snake makes its way past his defenses from behind to deliver a powerful shock through a bite to his ankle.
He doesn't scream. There is a sound- and very much a twist to his expression- of pain that is firmly cut off as he drops heavily to a knee. The offending snake becomes the recipient of a downward stab of the sword to prevent it from striking again. He feels the original ward shattering around them.
Cortana will not be entirely robbed of an offensive backup. Should anything rise- snake, wire, some other eldritch horror- the silver-haired figure will react by sending the shield spinning through the air to intercept it.
And yes. It would also return to him. Some things just transcend time and space, you know?
Elidibus will try to get up, but finds the pain makes it difficult. He will seek to keep the snakes at bay, but he'll fall on that spot if this isn't finished soon.
The irony of his weakness doesn't escape him. But he isn't one to dwell on such thoughts until there is breathing room to do so.
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As for Elidibus and Yelena, things are looking dire. There aren't nearly as many snakes as there had been among the wires on the floor, but each that remains packs a substantial punch of its own. There aren't quite as many wires to coil around Yelena as there were, either, but in her current condition she may not be able to fend them off for long on her own.
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She rolls onto her back and scrabbles away, trying to draw the wires off just a little further, buy Cortana just a little more time. Something she knows damned well she's running out of herself - her boots are solid, but the cuffs of her jeans are wider than the cuffs of her shirt, and if she's not lucky enough to dislodge the wires before they slither further up her leg, they'll find skin soon enough.
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She's tired of heroic sacrifices.
She doesn't want to use Elidibus's damage redirect more than she has to. Her pistol was just about out of bullets before they entered this fight, but she whips it out and fires the last bullet in a running shot at one of the snakes guarding Steel before throwing the empty gun at another. She flings herself at the bier on which Steel rests, attempting to tackle/crush/send flying everything with the force created by her density and speed.
Really sorry, I lost track again of turn order. :(
It affords him a measure of time to spend a bit on a minor healing. Clemency, that's what the modern Eorzeans call it, no? Regardless it is enough to get Elidibus back to a standing position and place some weight on the bitten ankle, though there's still some pain. He can fight and does so, as much to mitigate the cost of taking blows he receives from both his own battle and Cortana's as to fend off the snakes seeking to take him down with their electric shock.
But his grip trembles from what has gotten through of earlier attacks and he's only just got a firm enough hold on his blade and shield. Another shock getting through, particularly without the ward in place, will likely disarm him.
Should Yelena swing near him before that time however, she'll find he helps where he can with the weapon, to fend off her attackers or with small bursts of magicks similar to the earlier attack, though far less potent; think of it now more a way to cause the attackers to hesitate or grant an opening than something that would completely rid her of them.
[OOC: It would be very reasonable to expect the 'cover' to run out somewhere amidst the enemy's next tag. It is not a very long ability at all.]
Sorry for the delay! cw blood and injury
In the moment she tackles him, his gaze focuses and turns to her. There's surprise, then recognition, and then panic as he, Cortana, the bank of servers serving as his bier, and the last frantic copper snake guarding him all go crashing hard to the floor. Wires snap with the impact; while he's too elaborately tied-in to be completely knocked free, she's jarred him loose by breaking some wires and tearing others free from his now bleeding body. Unfortunately for Zyrian, that also means he has nowhere to go, as he's still tethered to the wreckage by the remaining wires.
Abruptly, the wires ensnaring Yelena let go and writhe in the direction of Cortana and Zyrian. They're moving less smoothly, though, with much less coordination, and struggling to reach their master where he's been knocked to the opposite side of the clearing. Similarly, a copper snake reaches Elidibus and strikes only to go wide and completely miss his leg.
From all around them are the rustling, slithering, thumping sounds of reinforcements in the form of copper snakes making their uncharacteristically clumsy way inward to defend Zyrian. The defenders are not down for the count, but the attack on Zyrian seems to have sent them into disarray.
From Zyrian there are groans of pain and a strained "No--no!"
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Given that bit of breathing room, she finally draws her gun - the batons have been lost, dropped and sent spinning during her struggle with the wires, and anyway, there's nothing within arm's reach - gaze following the wires that have so recently released her to where they connect with the beeping, blinking machinery.
Steel would be a more satisfying target, but he's too closely entangled with Cortana. On a normal day, she might make the shot anyway - she may not be superhuman, but she has always had excellent aim. On a normal day, she's not injured, one-handed, system flushed with adrenaline, nausea clawing at her throat.
And so she fires instead into that blinking heart of the cluster of wires, wishing not for the first time that she'd thought to bring some of Winter's grenades, for all that her own preferences lie in more structured, controlled explosions.
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She'll give him only a few moments to respond before tightening her hands, provided she's able to get them wrapped around Zyrian's throat in the first place.
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Well, it can easily go unremarked in the chaos that follows.
Yelena still stands and, it seems, holding her own. Therefore the silver-haired man focuses first on finishing off the snake which had been stunned by the thrown gun, sought to be accomplished by stepping forward and a sure thrust. A subtle limp suggests it isn't as easy a task as it might have been earlier and so it is very fortunate indeed.
"Quickly, Cortana!" While not yelling, Elidibus speaks in a loud voice and tone that conveys both urgency and insistence. "Do not give him a chance to recover."
cw death by strangulation
"You're so--small!" snarls Zyrian, wild-eyed, caught between fury and terror. He struggles to get his arms free, scrabbling at Cortana, at the wires on the floor, at her grip tightening on his throat. He twists and writhes in the wreckage of his altar, one desperate hand reaching for the copper snake stunned by the thrown gun, foiled by a strike from Elidibus that takes the construct out.
In his own digital world, Zyrian Steel was to be a god. Here in the land of the waking, he is but a man. His defenders, wires and snakes, seem to mirror his increasing desperation along with his increasingly clumsy movements as he teeters on the brink of unconsciousness, gasping for air that will not come.
It takes perhaps twenty or thirty seconds before his struggles weaken, then cease, leaving only the copper snakes still sluggishly trying to reach his attackers, slow enough now to be easily picked off as they come. His heart still beats--it takes some few minutes, after all, for a human to die from strangulation.
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"Here," she says, voice tight enough with pain to suppress any other inflection. "He deserves a slow death, but his victims deserve freedom more."
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This will be the last NPC tag for the thread; you are free to continue to play this out if you wish!
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