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Post by Aidan on Sept 20, 2022 23:17:02 GMT
The doors ahead of the Raiders hissed open and allowed entrance onto the command deck - the heart of the Dreadnaught, seat of the Ascension Engine.
The raiders entered a large, domed chamber, dominated by a large pylon in the very center, thick at its base, tapering along its center and then widening once more at the top, where conduits split off from the pylon to curve back down the domed glass to cylindrical mountings in the corners of the room. Each mounting had a computer access panel beneath a tall, rectangular window which displayed tubes that glowed with pulsing lights of various colors. Two of these mountings were on a catwalk that encircled around half of the chamber, with steps on either side of the room granting access to the walkway.
The floor around the central pylon was made of thick glass, providing a view down a long metal shaft to the city of Metropolis below. Through it, the falling pieces of the flying fortress could be seen, with explosions and smoking clouds rising from dozens of places along its hull as the Raiders’ airships disabled it with sweeping strafing runs.
Along the walls of the chamber were a number of large screens, each showing a video feed of a different part of the battle between the Raiders and Argus.
One one screen, amidst a ruined street, Quake knelt, breathing deeply, as Celeste stood over him, one hand held toward him. Around them, the Dolls, accompanied by Huntress, Nyx, Hrist, Eden, and Agent Lockhart stood amongst ruined sentinels and unconscious Argonauts, clearly in the aftermath of a devastating fight. Other Argus metas hung back, watching as Quake raised his head to look at Celeste’s hand before taking it in his own. Celeste pulled him to his feet, and the the metas behind him began to shift and nod as the Raiders secured the allegiance of those forced to fight for Demandred.
On another screen, smoke swirled along a devastated street, the facade of one building collapsed forward, the road pockmarked by craters and bonfires. Amidst the overturned cars were a number of Mavericks being pulled to safety by Suzy Q, Omen, Odette, and Robyn. There was a bright flash of red light in the middle of the smoke and everyone stopped and turned, weapons raised. A moment later, two figures emerged from the smoke: Saku, expression somewhere between scowling and grinning, carrying an unconscious Commander Havoc in her arms, was followed by her brother, Aidyn, dragging the body of the Prophet, Vulcan, in one hand. As Suzy ran up to Saku to help with Havoc, Aidyn dragged Vulcan into the open, amidst the Raiders and Mavericks, and let him drop to the ground before turning his gaze all around him, daring anyone else to step forward and challenge him.
On yet another screen, glitchy security feeds jumped from camera to camera, following Ender, Hope, Aloe, and Zasha as they raced through the interior of the falling fortress, searching for a way out.
And on yet another screen, live media coverage showed the entirety of the aerial conflict, the falling ship, the rising, smaller ship, the swarms of sentinels and support ships and Raiders, both flying fighters of the Old Guard and the array of craft fielded by the Raiders to carry their people into battle. Strangely, the part of the Dreadnaught rising into the sky began to radiate a shifting spectrum of light around it…
To the heightened senses of Grenadine and Damien, the air felt thick with Chaos energy, a building pressure that seemed to energize the very air around them.
Inside the Ascension chamber, as the Raiders took stock of their situation, a seam in the base of the pylon split open, a doorway that slid open to reveal a bright, softly pulsing red light framing the silhouette of a figure. As he stepped forward amidst wisps of vapor, the room’s lighting revealed the one they had come to stop - Demandred, commander of Argus.
And he had… changed.
He seemed bigger, somehow, though his body did not appear altered. His short hair had turned white and stirred slowly on his head. The veins on his exposed arms were visible through his fur, and the corner of mouth twitched, a strange tic on his otherwise expressionless features. Cold, dead eyes surveyed the Raiders as they entered.
“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” he said, his voice quiet amidst the hum of the electronics surrounding them. “But you are… persistent. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I expected it would. Some people will always be afraid of change. Will be afraid of chaos…”
((Initiative: Mich 16, Tom 15, Dom 10, Kyt 9, Rob 6, Argus ))
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Post by Aidan on Sept 21, 2022 11:02:50 GMT
Aidan led the way into the chamber and slowed as he took in their surroundings, his eyes lingering on the screes. His attention snapped to the pylon at the center of the chamber as the doors hissed open and Demandred emerged.
Grip tightening on his sword, he shifted into a ready stance, eyes on Demandred and flickering across the room to take in any potential surprises. "This isn't your city. These aren't your people. We were always going to come for you."
Elyas followed Aidan in, rifle up and sweeping around the chamber before coming to rest on Demandred. In the open. Undefended.
"What have you done?" Elyas demanded.
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Post by Resonance on Sept 21, 2022 19:24:35 GMT
Reson joined Aidan by his side, standing defiantly with a scowl and a snort as Demandred spoke. She gripped her spear as she eyed him before likewise doing a quick scan of the room, unconsciously mirroring Aidan. "You can shove your change and chaos up your ass."
Mei faded to the back of the group in order to more covertly look for shadowy spots she could leap to should she need to shift into her shadow form. She smirked at Reson's curse.
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Post by Uberwulf X on Sept 21, 2022 22:10:39 GMT
"I'm actually pretty fine with Chaos," Damien answered lamely. "Maybe not destruction and anarchy and the city on fire and martial law and--" he swirled a finger at Demandred. "--doing this, thus speaking to a lack of personal choice. But Chaos is fine, in controlled doses."
He chanced taking his eyes off Demandred only because the rest of the team was there, and through the screens he saw how hard everybody was fighting-- and more importantly, winning. There was just a glance of the other team with the Dolls on it, and while they were fighting, they didn't seem to be taking odds too great for them. The urge to smirk was checked by the feeling of his wristlets almost humming with the energy it was absorbing. He was glad to have them, because he would have otherwise likely begun to start spitting ichor.
"So, I guess the question is whether or not you want to lay down your arms in the face of the continent telling you to go away, or if you're going to add 'getting physically beaten by teenagers with attitude and their adult chaperones' to your resumé. Because, again, I'm fine with that too."
Metzli, already in her more feral form, clenched her teeth. She wanted to tell Damien that he was talking too much, but she knew that he was feeling... some emotion. She couldn't tell if he was nervous or
excited
but she let him get it out, because she knew he was all business in battle. She considered one last time her options for battle, and settled on just working with the others. Galahad had advised them that if Demandred worked as he did, then Demandred could only take one ability at once.
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Post by Kyt on Sept 21, 2022 23:52:45 GMT
Yuki's eyes flicked at the screens when they entered, taking in as much of the room as she could. But then the pillar in front of them opened, taking her attention as a familiar figure stepped out. Even changed, just the sight of him set her bristling, hackles raised as she stepped to the side.
"You should have known this would happen. If you're really so smart and grand and know exactly what you're doing." She kept her eyes locked on the wolf, a cold fog starting to mist off of her in her anger.
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Post by Kokinyu on Sept 22, 2022 14:05:59 GMT
Grenadine watched Demandred with an expression that looked focused bordering on stern. Outwardly she looked ready to get down to business. Internally, she was focused on the numbers. By this point in her life, chaos and it's exposure rate was something to tally, quantify, and anticipate. There was too much in the air for her liking, the first environmental variable to account.
Second was Demandred and his twitch. The accession engine- he'd undergone the transformation, and already his neuralogical condition had changed. Whether psychological symptoms had set in was unknown. She looked about the room for signs of movement- there was no way Demandred would face them alone while reeling with the side effects of his transition. He was confident, not stupid.
"You upended our lives, of course we were gonna come for you." Kapp spit, the bridge of his snout wrinkling reflexively. His body language was peppered with tells and ticks of the imminent fight- microaggressions in the way his lip twitched, how his tail flicked, how his hoodie looked just a little tighter with his raised hairs. The air around him had become frigid. "You. Brought. This."
And with that, Kapp began to slowly stalk toward the right, eyes focused on Demandred.
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Post by Kokinyu on Sept 22, 2022 14:30:40 GMT
As some Raiders turned their attention about the room, they'd find that a Demandred wasn't alone. Not entirely. On the sidelines, a -perhaps- safe distance above, a figure walked on the catwalks. Stepping into the glow cast by the ascension engine, a middle aged canine stood and observed the scene as it unfolded. His drooping jowls and perpetually wrinkled brow made it hard to gauge his state of mind, but onlookers could see keen brown eyes focused on Demandred more than his new guests.
The canine- a boxer, maybe a bull, it was hard to say- was showing white and gray patches in his short brown fur, suggesting he was past his prime. His sturdy form, which barely fit in his dark tank and gray jeans, suggested otherwise. A few of the Raiders would have recognized him from a previous altercation. Mike, the Darholme family's Fixer, curled one calloused hand around a railing and quietly sucked his teeth. He mumbled something inaudible but otherwise did not act.
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Post by Aidan on Sept 25, 2022 14:44:48 GMT
"...Control," Demandred continued, and as the light radiating in the corners of the room flared, the build up of chaos energy abruptly drained from the chamber.
Green light flooded the chamber through the window beneath the Ascension Engine and all the screens flickered with rampant static. The Raiders felt a sudden jerk in the pit of their stomach as the entire ship translocated far from Metropolis. As the emerald light of the chaos field died down, through the windows set in the floor the Raiders could see the caldera of a volcano, the churning lava deep below sliding into view as the ship maneuvered into position.
Demandred spread his hands to either side of himself and stepped forward, the doors of the Ascension Engine sliding closed behind him.
“Even in the face of opposition, there is always hope that you will be understood. Even now… perhaps you will appreciate what I am doing for our kind. Soon there will be more of us than there are of them - and you will all get to witness the shift in power first hand.”
Above him, about two thirds of the way up the pylon of the machine, thick bands of metal began to split and turn, rotating in opposite directions around the pylon. Red light seeped through the cracks in the rotating metal plates.
Elyas narrowed his eyes and adjusted his aim. “Turn it off, Damodred. No more warnings.”
Aidan sank into a crouch to steady himself as the ship teleported, but tuned out Demandred’s words when he saw the volcano below. He knew this place, and in seeing it, all his worst fears surged to the surface.
“We need to stop him now!” he shouted, electricity crackling to life around his body and down his right arm as he spun and flung his sword arm toward Demandred, releasing a crackling beam of spiritual lightning at the wolf.
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Post by Resonance on Sept 25, 2022 16:36:33 GMT
Reson's pupils contracted, sensing the fear and urgency in Aidan... as she too recognized the location. Her fur and quills raised, a dozen shards of Light appearing around her.
As Aidan released his lightning, her shards rocketed forward at Demandred.
The first punch had been thrown, it was time to get to work. Mei wrapped the shadows around herself, taking on her Shadow Beast "armor", so to speak. She sunk into the shadows and quickly darted around the edge of the room to get a different vantage point to Demandred.
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Post by Uberwulf X on Sept 26, 2022 18:01:10 GMT
Damien lurched but held his position as they were teleported over a volcano. Damien's cool facade dropped as he realized just how much power Demandred had, and the willingness to trade witty, meaningless banter faded immediately. Would it even do to ask him why the hell they were over a volcano?
Aidan attacked with a projectile, and Damien rushed forward with Celerity, simultaneously drawing his sword for a slash to the midsection.
"What the heck..." Metzli looked around them after teleportation, her expression showing a faint amount of worry. Was the plan to plunge the Raiders into the fiery chasm? She took a couple steps forward once Elyas gave his final warning, but as Aidan and Damien acted, she moved as well-- no time to ask why there was so much near-panic in his voice. Donning her shadowy barding, the oversized feline rushed forward opposite her brother-- though absolutely not as quickly as him-- aiming to clamp her jaws around his shoulder or leg.
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Post by Kyt on Sept 26, 2022 22:00:04 GMT
<What the hell?> Yuki was as shook as everyone else at the sudden teleportation. She didn't recognize the place, but Aidan seemed freaked, launching the assault in earnest.
The fox twisted her heel, sliding her other foot back as frost shot out from her stance towards Demandred. It spread into a thin, slippery sheen behind him, leaving him little safe options to move as several of the others attacked.
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Post by Kokinyu on Sept 27, 2022 17:29:56 GMT
Kapp staggered for a moment or so after the abrupt shift. The sensation that something had changed settled in before it really clicked. Seeing the caldera confirmed it. They'd been moved somehow- separated from the other fighters elsewhere. If that didn't feel like a good enough signal to strike, Aidan called out the command. Kapp tore off to the right, bounded off of the nearby frame of the catwalk's stairs, and darted forward toward Demandred's right flank. As he did he brought his arms up to extend the rime frost outward. The frozen crystal shaped into a set of bracers with pointed, blade-like extensions that followed the back of the hands.
(Kapp moves in to flank and harry Demandred)
----------------------- Grenadine shivered and stiffened at the sudden warp. She... felt that, and for a moment all of her preparation and careful control was dashed aside. With a baseline awareness of the world and her body in it, on a molecular level, having everything suddenly transposed was jarring. It wasn't until Aidan called out his command that she snapped to with a hiss, pupils tightened like slits.
Movement. Engine. Caldera. What did it mean? Avatar. The brief. The engine- power. He needed power- geothermal? No. no. More. This was worse than that- and as her thoughts caught up to Aidan's innate understanding, she was already running. She bolted to the left- the party couldn't be clustered like this. As her thoughts came back into synchronization, she took note of everything she could in the room- Demandred, what he was wearing, what equipment she could identify. The room- the automation equipment, the spinning machine parts which seemed to be... powering up? What hasn't he showed them yet?
(Grenadine attempts to perceive the room for more information, searching for hazards to avoid and opportunities to exploit.)
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Post by Kokinyu on Sept 27, 2022 17:32:16 GMT
Mike didn't lurch or stagger, but he'd held onto that rail for a damn good reason. Casting a brief glance back into the distant darkened room beyond the catwalk, his focus remained on the fight. Mostly on Demandred. He again quietly sucked his teeth.
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Post by Aidan on Sept 29, 2022 1:43:18 GMT
Aidan’s spiritual lightning slammed into Demandred’s left shoulder and he staggered back a step, teeth gritted as smoke rose from his burned clark vest and singed fur. His foot came down on Yuki’s ice and he slipped, falling to one knee but bringing up his forearms in time to protect himself from Resonance’s light blades. The first blade dug into his flesh, the second stuck and fell, and the others either shattered on impact or were deflected aside.
“...I see,” he murmured, rising to his feet as Damien blurred forward. Demandred stepped forward as Damien brought his sword around, the blade driving into the wolf’s midsection - only to get stuck barely an inch into Demandred’s flesh.
Without missing a beat, Demandred swept his hand opposite Damien toward Damien’s chest and unleashed a storm of lightning to blow Damien away from him, even as his gaze turned toward Kapp.
“It’s all chaos… Meta, Magic… the source doesn’t matter. Only the effect…”
He did not prepare to face Kapp - he didn’t have to. Instead, a foot-thick beam of scalding red light flashed down through the air, drawing a line between Kapp and Demandred, forcing the jaguar back before he could close. The line curved toward the Raiders, then abruptly vanished.
On the pylon several yards above Demandred, the rotating metal plates had ceased, sliding out and away from a large, red, eye-like lens that smoked as another laser began to charge, the eye searching out its next target.
From the sides of the room, white pods mounted on the walls pushed free, spindly legs unfolding, small jet engines emerging, rotating pulse laser canons sliding into place as four large, wasp-like machines turned to face the Raiders.
Demandred cracked his neck, first to one side, then the other. The air sparked and crackled around him.
“Very well. Let us begin.”
Aidan blinked as Demandred weathered their attack and threw lightning back at Damien. Aidan had laced his lightning with spiritual energy - Demandred shouldn’t have been able to mimic it. So then why…
The machine…
Aidan hissed his command word to unleash his wings and took to the air. “Nothing can ever be straightforward, can it…”
Elyas took a step back as the laser fired down, revealing the existence of the large eye built into the pylon. His eyes flicked to the wasp-like machines, and he muttered a curse of his own.
“Eggtech… the Pawns should have been a warning. Spread out! Take out the chaff!” He lowered his rifle and sprinted to the side, drawing his side arm to fire upon the closest of the Buzzbombers.
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Post by Resonance on Sept 29, 2022 11:02:26 GMT
Reson snorted in anger and annoyance as Demandred weathered the attacks easily and summoned the drones. She hefted her staff, spinning it once in her hand effortlessly. "You go high, I'll go low," she called to Aidan, charging to the right to take on the drones with him and Elyas. As Elyas shot at the closest one, she aimed for the furthest, letting out a volley of Blades to hit and distract it.
Mei was in the shadows near where the two drones on the left activated. She wasted no time in leaping onto the closest drone, and wrapping her Shadow tail around it in an attempt to interfear with its flying mechanism. She stabbed at it with her Shadow claws as well.
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