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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)
no subject
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!"
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
"Here," she says, voice tight enough with pain to suppress any other inflection. "He deserves a slow death, but his victims deserve freedom more."
no subject
What a creep.
She'll take Yelena's gun when offered and hold it in one hand -- the other she'll keep wrapped tight around the unconscious man's throat -- before putting a bullet in his brain.
"Thanks Yelena. Some payoffs aren't worth the wait."
no subject
Until Yelena passes the gun to Cortana. Caught out of the periphery of his vision, Elidibus is suddenly made aware of how much Zyrian may have gleaned from his time as an Avatar of some machine mainframe. How much more the millionaire may know about the status quo of this world and its fear-based 'divinities'.
All Steel is and was, it was about to slip away to return to whatever Underworld this world possessed. A singular, obsessive thought urged Elidibus to act. He must obtain it before it is gone.
Ignoring the nauseating twist of desire or any of a usually formidable restraint and will- something those that know him well would be shocked to see- the silver-haired man swiftly drops his blade and holds out his hand with the palm facing the tangled mess of wires and Zyrian Steel. A red sigil appears before his focused features; the instincts urging him to treat this as some magicks of importance.
But it will all be for naught. While something might have stirred for a moment, the last of his carefully stored fuel for his powers on Earth had been near their end. Compelled to try to their very exhaustion, the sigil abruptly flicks out of existence and any aura of power about him immediately shuts off. He is utterly silenced by the abrupt return to mortal human.
Aches and injury that were staved off by subtle, passive forces slam into him. The half-healed ankle causes him to collapse to one knee again as it gives out. Yet the only expression on Elidibus's features at the time is one of complete frustration and disappointment.
"No..." With his power gone again, so too is any hope he had of salvaging what might have been useful knowledge. And it's a bitter feeling he can't seem to drag himself out of.
This will be the last NPC tag for the thread; you are free to continue to play this out if you wish!
Around them, Steel's victims claw their way back to consciousness and out of the entangling wires. Whatever happens now is up to the survivors.
no subject
She catches motion out of the corner of her eye, amidst the strange blur of the room becoming, somehow, more real, and half-turns - grimacing a little as even that much motion jars her - in time to see Elidibus slump to one knee. She doesn't miss the expression on his face, though she only frowns at him, something like concern in the crease of her brow.
"Are you too hurt to walk?" she asks. "I'm thinking we will be able to find help now."
no subject
A shiver passes through her before she is distracted again by Elidibus.
"Both of you need medical attention. The survivors too, probably."
no subject
He collects his blade- still around for now- and seems to see no reason not to use it as a makeshift prop to slowly get to his feet again. After a moment's self assessment, he looks rueful. Elidibus' expression is once more calm and collected, if a touch apologetic as if the bitter disappointment had not occurred at all. Nor is much of the pain he must really be in currently expressed.
"It seems I must impose on you somewhat. At least for the time we have left," he tells Yelena. A glance around at the room drawn back into reality and the stirring occupants suggests his meaning.
Looking to Cortana, Elidibus then adds. "I fear my appearance would stand out and my magicks have been exhausted." He speaks truth; a silver haired man in white robes carrying a sword and shield at a tech showcase? He can neither dismiss nor conjure what he needs to change that. But there is an ulterior motive as well, that normal medical attention would not be possible for his existence here. "My colleague will be around. If you can help me find him, he will see to my needs with discretion."
no subject
She uses her good hand to tuck her injured arm against her chest, throat bobbing as she swallows back a surge of nausea.
Her gaze flicks back to Elidibus, briefly assessing. Measuring, almost. If she's considering whether or not they can disguise him in the clothes of the permanently unmoving, she at least has the grace not to sa as much.
Yet.
"Did your colleague follow you in here?"