"Do not make me repeat myself. Feldine. Is. Lost!"
John’s condescending words and heartless tone only served to stoke Scorch’s inner fire as she repeated them over, and over again in her head.
Everything had quickly fallen apart. The entire system she had devoted her life and her legs, and now her face to. It -- they -- had failed her, and the people they were sworn to protect.
The innocents they were supposed to keep from harm... The system was impotent. And they would do the same to her if she stayed with them -- cut her balls off and snuff out her flame.
She couldn’t let them do that to her.
’You had one job,’ she thought to her self, as she prepared to leave.
’One job you were elected to do. One job you were bred to do... And you failed. Now you just want to run away, and hope you can survive. I can’t do that. Desperately clinging to life, afraid of the monsters at my door?’
“We've got roughly ten minutes until the Lindwurms are ordered to withdraw,” John was saying now.
The rude way he had answered her before made her want to snap his neck and bury her face in his skull until his shattered bones splintered what now remained of her face. But she held her peace and waited for her chance to leave quietly.
Their orders were to run away. Again. She was done running. If they were going to all die, she’d rather die on her feet -- fit and able to defend herself.
Not slinking through the shadows hoping somehow, someway, someday for a chance that will bring them back to glory. Such a disgusting way to exist. Only trash could live like that.
But that was their choice. This was hers.
So while everyone was busy scrounging around for some way to escape this nightmare, Scorch walked away from them. Her job was to bring light to the shadows and fire to the soul’s of her enemies.
Let the smart people run away, and survive. She was stupid, and stupid people were always happier doing what they loved to do.
Spoiler
Second Heart Stats: MGT = 2 // FIN = 5 (+2 Origin) // COM = 4
Second Heart Traits: Teacher - You've been teaching for a long time, that automatically makes you good at making other people listen to you and getting them to do the things you want done. It also means that you’ll come across many of your former students in the force. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on the kind of teacher you were.
Blood Rage - It is a well known fact that trained athletes and fighters reach a moment called the zone, where their mind enters a state of zen. When this happens, time slows down and they know with perfect confidence what to do next. That has never happened to you, instead you black out as rage boils over, turning you into a creature of hatred and instinct. This can be a good thing or a bad thing; bad because you lose all control of yourself and don’t see much difference between one meatsack and the next, good because you are a literal killing machine.
“It's all about Power."
"Grabbing it. Keeping it. Using It."
"Power is our currency, our DNA... Our God.”
"We control the World."
"We provide the blueprint. And we give the Instructions."
As John gave his response to her, all can see that 'Scorch' was all too pleased with it. In the world they lived in, the truth is never kind or pretty. One must do things whether they seem wrong or not. Tough decisions need to be made, sometimes you need to admit your faults and realize when a situation is futile. There comes a time when one must fallback and regroup, live to face another day. However, if you simply give into your emotions and react rashly, everything will be for naught.
Assembled near 2 others, that begrudgingly became part of his group. "Worthless," he began in his usual cold and emotionless manner as 'Scorch' began walking away. "Soldiers that not only disobey orders die a meaningless death are completely worthless and of no use. No surprise, considering the ones that were under your charge." Getting off that Grav Bike he found, he matched her pace as he moved towards Scorch.
"Personally, It matters not if you want to throw away your life or not, However, Since agreeing to throw away your humanity to become an 'anima', you forfeited any rights you might've once had. You're nothing more than a tool to serve humanity to combat it's greatest enemy. As tools, to be used effectively, we must also use our heads. Despite your actions, we can't risk you getting devoured and making 'them' stronger. And given by your injuries, that's extremely likely."
Canaan's uncharacteristic speech left the other soldiers speechless, whether out of fear or hatred or even both, they could only watch as he moved right for Scorch. Whether his words were out of loyalty, his own beliefs or simply a front in an attempt to 'save' her, one can never tell with him. the only certain thing was that he closed in on Scorch and launched an attack, striking with his fist.
OOC:
Spoiler
CP: 11
- Might: 4 (+3 with Juggernaut)
- Finesse: 1
- Compatibility: 3
Traits:
Oppressive - Your huge frame, combined with your silence, gives you an oppressive presence. Enemies and allies alike do not like being around you.
Gritty - You are used to seeing the horrors of war, and as a result, is more resistant to morale damage.
While we fade away from the bustling market where our benevolent giant resides, we spend what seems to be endless hours winding through the unfamiliar cobblestone streets. Slithering through the labyrinth of darkened streets and narrow passages until in this expansive city, we reach a place where the light rarely touches. There, beneath a fickle and flickering lamp, sitting upon her throne that marks her the queen of the underworld with a cunning and seductive smile is none other than I-Am-X. Calmly observing us with a yellowed iris beset upon harrowing black, her fanged grin only grows wider as her fingertip guides the rod that stirs a tall, thin glass of suspicious looking Red Wine. Here in the Dark, we exist temporarily in her Kingdom. A place where the unsavory sorts can find sanctuary, a black market, and often the tools of death, subtlety, and subterfuge.
Sliding her sultry fingertip upon the spine of a book, the tome seems almost alive as it shudders and props open to a blank, but weathered page. Dipping a sharpened fountain pen in ink, she takes her mark upon the leathery parchment after a sip of her Bloodied delicacy. Not a moment later for us, the innocent-minded folks living upon the streets above, she describes to us her next devilish machination.
"Negative," was RCL-014f's reply to Noix's proposal. "Among the two of us, you have the higher base capability. If we were to split up task between distracting and eliminating the enemy, the best course of action would be to assign you, the strongest of us two, as the destroyer and I, the weakest, as the distraction. Assigning roles in the reverse would reduce our effectiveness by roughly 30%," she continued in her monotonic voice.
Having said that, RCL disengaged the mounting of all her weapons, thus making the heavy pile of machinery to fall to the ground with a massive thud. "Your ability will become stronger the more machinery you have under your command, won't it? Then I would like you to use my weapons as you see fit as I try to lure the beast's attention away from you."
After a supposed agreement had been made, RCL lunged at the beast, intenting to strike it with nothing but her bare fist. With her equipment now gone, her speed increased by leaps and bounds. It was unimaginable how the slow-moving battle marionette could now move at a speed that would outclass 8 out of 10 of your average Anima currently in operation. Though, even at her current speed, she was travelling in a speed much slower than bullets. Even with the added weight of her fist, the attack should not be as powerful as sustained HGE gatling fire. So it would be natural to expect her attack to bounce off completely, not harming the beast in any way whatsoever. However, that hypothesis had proven to be wrong. The fist landed square at the beast's face, and sent the monstrous creature reeling, though it managed to stay on its wo hind legs.
"I see. A brood of the Void Dragon it seems," RCL mumbled to herself as she calculated the effect of her previous attack. The reason why neither F-216's HGE-powered blade nor her own sustained fire could reach, let alone hurt the beast, was because it was emitting a force field that repels HGE energy the whole time. As such, it gained immunity to all HGE-based attack, which contributed to the beast's seemingly impenetrable defenses; which, by the way, could be taken down with enough actual physical force.
It seemed that a ray of hope had shone down on the previously hopeless battle. All they need to do is to occupy the beast long enough for Noix to build up enough kinetic force to kill the beast in one strike, and not die in the process. Though, as you might expect, things were not quite as easy as they sounded. Even without the force field, the beast still have some impressive power, both offensive and defensive. Having recovered from RCL's surprisingly effective attack, the beast executed an arm swipe at its aggressor; an attack that, though blocked, packed enough power to send the combat marionette flying.
Having anticipated such counterattack, however, RCL was more than ready to adjust her position, and "landed" safely on the cell's wall not too far from where F-216 was resting. The first exchange of blows were favorable for the reanimated Anima. She had managed to draw attention away from Noix, all the while avoiding major injuries to herself. For the next few minutes, however, she would need some help if she were to obtain victory over the beast.
Luckily, it seemed that F-216 has recovered enough from her injury to start moving.
OOC Info:
Spoiler
+ Dice Roll Result: 16 (great success)
+ HD and F-216 is now back in action, but have a 30% stats penalty from persisting injuries.
+ Enemy's weakness (pure physical attack) is found. While the enemy is virtually invulnerable to HGE-based attacks, good old punch and slash with plain steel seems to be working just fine
Ignoring the insults and taunting from the usually stoic Canaan as she walked away, Scorch nevertheless sensed his sudden attack and neatly dodged his fist with a tilt of her head. Grabbing the offending arm with her own, Scorch pulled Canaan toward her before lashing out with an explosive headbutt that left some of his hair and clothes burning.
"Worthless?" Scorch chided as her bandages came undone.
"What does trash like you know about a person's worth? You're just a pathetic, little tin man pretending to be human. I've seen dust with more heart and soul. If you're a tool that only exist to be used and discarded, then run back to your masters and lick their feet -- and ask for their permission next time you want to open your mouth. If I die, I'll die gladly doing what I was born to do -- what I choose to do with my life."
Spoiler
Second Heart Stats: MGT = 2 // FIN = 5 (+2 Origin) // COM = 4
Second Heart Traits: Teacher - You've been teaching for a long time, that automatically makes you good at making other people listen to you and getting them to do the things you want done. It also means that you’ll come across many of your former students in the force. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on the kind of teacher you were.
Blood Rage - It is a well known fact that trained athletes and fighters reach a moment called the zone, where their mind enters a state of zen. When this happens, time slows down and they know with perfect confidence what to do next. That has never happened to you, instead you black out as rage boils over, turning you into a creature of hatred and instinct. This can be a good thing or a bad thing; bad because you lose all control of yourself and don’t see much difference between one meatsack and the next, good because you are a literal killing machine.
“It's all about Power."
"Grabbing it. Keeping it. Using It."
"Power is our currency, our DNA... Our God.”
"We control the World."
"We provide the blueprint. And we give the Instructions."
"Stop. That is enough," John calmly stated. A curious method to stop the brewing fight from escalating, but it worked quite well on Canaan's personality.
"While it did little to no damage, a blow to the face, coupled with insults on one's code of conduct, does tend to incite violent reaction from the assaulted, don't they?" he continued, now adressing the other party in the fight. "To think that you would go as far as occupying us until the Ets arrive, therefore forcing us to fight with you.. As expected of a former military instructor, eh?"
" However, I have no interest in participating in your game. As promised, I'll provide you with enough munitions to fight. Do not get me wrong though: I do not, and will not acknowledge this course of action as a service to humanity," he continued as he moved his face closer to Janet's, as if taunting her.
"Feldine has fallen, and by choosing to stay, you have consigned yourself to death, thereby denying humanity a portion of its combat force. You refused the life of an obedient weapon, even going so far as to insult others' readiness to do so. You are a failure as an Anima; and that's the only reason I allow you to stay and fight."
At this point, Janet seemed to be ready to boil, and John decided that it would be the best time to pull back, before the female Anima try to fry him alive. Stepping back and tilting his head to the left just in time to evoid Janet's lava-like spit-to-the face, he let said his last message to the lady.
"If you disagree, then prove me wrong. Strike fear into the alien's heart. Make them doubt and regret their decision to pick a fight against humanity. And live to tell me the tale, if you think you're up to it."
With everything said and done, John gave to Janet a physical bullet rifle, a bagful of ammunitions, half a dozen of land mines, another half a dozen of hand grenades, and finally two sets of unfamiliar-looking explosives.
"The one painted green is an experimental pheromone grenade. We neither have the time nor the opportunity to test it beforehand, but if our scientists were right, it should throw the ets into confusion. The purple one is a miniaturized devourer module of the Cronus Warhead. Once activated, it will drain enough HGE from the atmosphere to kill an Anima. You know what to do with it when you have no other options."
Thus, the surviving members of the wall team split into two: those who wished to accompany Janet in the frontline, and those who choose to believe John and head to the Town Center. Unsurprisingly, most of those who trained under the female instructor chose to be left behind, which means only four out of the twelve non-Anima survivors would follow John.
Despite how it looks, it worked to everyone's favour: Janet got more firepower to last for a while; John was spared the decision of leaving somebody behind due to the lack of functional Grav-Bikes; and the team as a whole would not suffer duality of command. All that is left, is to see how things unfold.
Part A - Team Red
Atomos
Spoiler
Just as John predicted, roughly ten minutes after they split up, a huge wave of Etrangers broke through the City's out gate. The heavy metal barricade was flung open as if it were a simple manhole cover, and a mountain-like visage appeared behind it.
To many of Janet's team, it was the first time they get to catch a glimpse of a Titan-class Etranger.
And just like the stories they've heard, the creature was a nightmare fuel. The creature can only be described as an elephant-like creature, clad in claws, teeth, and fleshy appendages that were evolved specifically to kill and consume living creatures in a large quantity. Surrounding it was a thick fog of miasma, which seemed to grow ever thickher with every step the creature took. From beneath the fog, silhouettes of lesser creatures can be seen.
Just before the horde of Ets enter Janet's squad's firing range, the Titan "Atomos" stopped its step, and let out a deafening roar; signifying the start of the war. As the soldiers instictively raised their arms to cover their ears, the countless harvesters began its charge at the group.
Atomos:
Spoiler
Part B - Team Blue
Angels of Death
Spoiler
Ten minutes after they depart, a loud voice could be heard from the direction of the city gate, signifying the arrival of the Etrangers. Curious to see the Titan with their own eyes, the soldiers slowed their Grav Bikes down to take a peek. This, of course, earned them a reprimand from their commander.
"Do not be so eager to find death, soldiers; it fill find you soon enough. Now focus on the matter on hand. Look!" said John as he motioned his chin towards the fortress city's artificial sky, that begun to show signs of cracking. From the crack, hundreds of flying Etranger poured forth, dying the sky black with their leathery wings.
From the distance, a group of fellow soldiers could be seen trying to break through the descending angels of death. It seemed that they were blessed with great commander and luck, as they managed to slip through the lattice of death with incredible precision.
Would John's team managed to do the same with considerably less gun and cohesion? It was truly an ultimate test to his ability to lead, and his men's ability to follow.
"Alright men, we're going to follow that group's lead! Full speed ahead! Give the Ets no time to regroup! Do not forget your training! Shoot alternatingly; watch your comrades' ammo count; don't let the cover fire stop!"
Edited by Crouching Bacon, 11 August 2015 - 11:28 AM.
With great effort Sixteen opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself still alive and for the most part still intact. HGE, the wonder worker had worked its magic again. The gaping wound at her side was still there but was no longer dripping like a faulty faucet like earlier. The debris too was lying conveniently around her instead of being upon her.
THUD!!
A loud crash drew her attention, her eyes traced the victim. Not far from her lay Rachel. Still in one piece. The ET was surprisingly weak for his massive girth. Had she been one, the makeshift team would have been morsels before long but it seemed like it was toying with its food.
Rachel's words drew her attention even more. Did she mention the spawn of Void Dragon! No wonder her blade bounced off like a toothpick off a metal door. So heavy physical force would be a good counter measure to this menace then. That is useful information.
"Oy! Rachel!" she said in a hoarse voice as she coughed a little more of her blood. Waiting for her friend to turn at her. She let out a wild grin as she bared her blood soaked teeth to her.
"Mind if I dance along." she said forcing herself up and walking from behind the collapsed column. The thick rod of titanium steel from the debris making a good substitute for her double bladed staff. She walked calmly towards the bulging blob with the serenity only displayed by the psychotic before falling into a run. She wasn't smart like most of the anima, her theory in the field had always been brute force. Her fluid movements made brutality a treat but they were in no way refined like most of the long range Anima or even like her mother Anima. It would have been perfectly fine if she was a Jaeger but Fei's second heart thumped in her. Perhaps it fed her madness or kept her sane not many knew.
She somersaulted onto a fallen column at its right and swung down with force. Her second heart pumping everything into her muscles to make her response times electric. Though wounded, the Red queen was back in the fray.
If you have the time:
Spoiler
Through the vast entity that is the Internet, we now find ourselves in an unfamiliar place. A place of new faces, new personalities, and new adventurers alike. This place is the new home of our motley crew, and it is called Batoto. Here, as we meander through bustling streets and cobblestone draped markets, we find the first new person we will meet this day. Diabolical Rhapsody. What is so curious and is immediately the most noticeable thing about this shy soul is his height. Towering over eight feet high and sporting a two-handed mace that weighs more than some men, one would expect this scraggly bearded giant to be a savage barbarian. Yet those who dare try to scratch the surface a touch soon find a kind soul who so earnestly aims to please. Accompanying the vodka that he drinks and sings softly to is a pen quill made of the finest eagle's feather. His tools of imagination and creation, the studious giant fervently writes his passages for us all to see.
The result of his punch was a clear miss but the reaction on his face was the usual one for him, which is to say that there wasn't one. Given her injuries and Canaan's overwhelming might, there wasn't any doubt that Janet would've easily been put out of action had she taken the punch and that would clearly show that it wouldn't last too long in a swarm of ETs. Still some fight in her, might last a few minutes longer than originally thought. He thought as she grabbed his arm and responded in kind with a headbutt. Unfazed after her attack, he simply looked at her as if saying to her "How Weak".
" 'If you're a tool that only exist to be used and discarded' How foolish. You seem to forget, that Anima are tools. It's why we were made in the first place, to combat the Estrangers for humanity. Openly disobeying orders and condemning more people to death further shows how much of a failure you truly are." With cold expression, he rears back his arm for another strike when the commander spoke up and put it to a halt. Bringing his arms to rest at his sides as he walked away from her, the commander continued on.
As he made his way back towards the others and onto his grav bike, there was an awkward silence between them, well other then the commander who seemed to be taunting Janet more and more as he continued his speech. It was a mixture of surprise, for the fact Canaan said more than a simple sentence, even a sentence was enough to be surprised about, and fear, for his cold and harsh words towards 'Scorch' and the fact he wasn't even fazed or harmed in the slightest when she struck him. Canaan's strength was quite noted but to actually see him in action, skirmish or not, was something else.
With Janet's anger seeming to be coming to a boil, they made to part with a number of the forces deciding to split off and hook up with her. No real surprise considering they were trained by her. Before finally breaking away, Canaan spoke loud enough for all to hear. "Maybe it's better that their kind gets culled, after all." 'Humanity' doesn't need useless tools that doesn't care about nothing other than fighting and killing. What humanity truly needs, is a tool that can see the bigger picture. They'll get nowhere if they simply give in to emotion and just sacrifice themselves in a battle one can't hope to win in. And to avoid losing key assets, you fall back and regroup, getting stronger and thinking of a better plan of attack. Simple.
Unfortunately, there are some who don't quite understand that. No matter, having split from the deadweight they finally were on their way and away from Janet and the other fools. Minutes after parting, a loud voice could be heard, signalling the arrival of the Estrangers. The lot of the remaining soldiers foolishly slowed down their grav bikes to take a peek at the titan, earning a reprimand from the commander as he pointed to the city's artificial sky that began showing signs of cracking. Don't they understand the dangerous situation they currently were in? Apparently not. Canaan thought to himself.
In the distance, a group of soldiers could be seen trying to break through the onslaught of incoming estrangers as they miraculously slipped through the hands of death with precision. It really does pay to have a commander who truly knows what they're doing, quite skillful. And with that sight, John bellowed out another order. Following the other squads lead, they charged in at full speed. Gaining the attention of the Estrangers, Members of Canaan's started getting hit hard. With the fact that Canaan has no long distance attacks nor the skill to properly operate the gun mounted on the bikes, it left him with little choice. Speeding up, just as Devourer-class estranger went in for the kill, Canaan moved in close, pulled out his blade and split the devourer in two with a single strike.
Given that him wielding a gun is pretty much pointless, he tossed his ammo to the soldiers who need it far more than he does. Judging that this gives them the best chance of succeeding, Canaan decided that he'll become the bait to attract most of the estrangers attention so that his comrades can push through unhindered and shoot them down. Granted, there's limits to the amount he can attract and take on at a time before getting overwhelmed but he'll make sure that they'll take down as many of them as possible before he eventually pulls back. They must break through, everything is riding on that fact. And with that, he picked up speed and moved ahead of the rest after cleaving another one in two. The mad dash begins.
OOC:
Spoiler
CP: 11
- Might: 4 (+3 with Juggernaut)
- Finesse: 1
- Compatibility: 3
Traits:
Oppressive - Your huge frame, combined with your silence, gives you an oppressive presence. Enemies and allies alike do not like being around you.
Gritty - You are used to seeing the horrors of war, and as a result, is more resistant to morale damage.
While we fade away from the bustling market where our benevolent giant resides, we spend what seems to be endless hours winding through the unfamiliar cobblestone streets. Slithering through the labyrinth of darkened streets and narrow passages until in this expansive city, we reach a place where the light rarely touches. There, beneath a fickle and flickering lamp, sitting upon her throne that marks her the queen of the underworld with a cunning and seductive smile is none other than I-Am-X. Calmly observing us with a yellowed iris beset upon harrowing black, her fanged grin only grows wider as her fingertip guides the rod that stirs a tall, thin glass of suspicious looking Red Wine. Here in the Dark, we exist temporarily in her Kingdom. A place where the unsavory sorts can find sanctuary, a black market, and often the tools of death, subtlety, and subterfuge.
Sliding her sultry fingertip upon the spine of a book, the tome seems almost alive as it shudders and props open to a blank, but weathered page. Dipping a sharpened fountain pen in ink, she takes her mark upon the leathery parchment after a sip of her Bloodied delicacy. Not a moment later for us, the innocent-minded folks living upon the streets above, she describes to us her next devilish machination.
Keeping her silence all the while they were riding past the enroaching Flyers, the mystery civilian finally could not stop herself from giving praise to the Vici-Gethel duo for their job well done.
"The ability to see through the Ets' movements, the insight to predict their next move, and the guts to believe his judgement; Garm's lineage certainly have excellent members in it," said the girl clad in black as she jumped off Vici's bike.
Having finished dusting her tattered cloak (which did next to nothing in making it look tidier I must say), she straightened her back and asked her two saviours, "Your name?"
To which Gethel responded, "I don't know what kind of customs you have where you lived, but down here, it's quite rude to ask for others' name before you introduce yourself," in a polite, yet slightly irked tone.
"Ah yes, my humblest apology. It seems that years of living alone has dulled my common sense," the girl replied after a short pause. "Riona is the name I was born with, though others often call me by the nickname Planeswalker," she continued after offering a curt bow.
Her introduction, however, was cut short by the arrival of the Flyers.
From her bowing position, the Planeswalker Riona made a swift 180 degree turn to intercept the looming Ets' attack. Her petite fist went straight through the Ets' heart, instantly killing it without giving it a chance to complete its supposed surprise attack. Were the counter executed a fraction of a second late, the result would be completely different. Her confidence to play with death in such a manner showed her experience as a front liner.
"Looks like the time for introduction is over. Get the civilians into safety, you guys! I'll keep the nasties busy," she said nonchalantly as she removed her then-bloody fist from the Ets carcass. Before she even finished her speech, HGE began to coalescent before her, forming a pair of simple yet beautiful blades, of which she quickly used to dispatch of the Ets that just landed.
Her style was as haphazard as a hurricane; crude in movement, yet somehow it felt like nothing was wasted; that every move was executed for a purpose. Before anybody managed to break away from their mesmerized state, The hooded girl had slain at least ten of the flying Devourers; an amazing feat, even for an Anima's standard.
"Oy! Get to moving already lads! It's not like I could not get tired, y'know?"
Team Vici Walking Deads
Spoiler
"R-right!" the men of Vici's squad responded flusteredly to Riona's rally.
As expected of well-trained and well-disciplined soldiers, they quickly and effectively establish a chain of command, and began evacuating the civilians in an orderly manner. The uninjured and lightly injured civilians were urged to help carry the heavily wounded ones while the soldiers put the gun both in front and at the back of the line.
Due to the lack of time and resources, they were forced to leave the dead behind. The decision was not made without protests, but with real Etranger threats on their back, there was nothing that could be done. In a somber atmosphere, the group marched deep into the bowels of Feldine's town center.
While the trip was far from fun, at least things went without incidents. For the first few meters under the ground level, that is. With light growing more scarce the deeper they go, fear and stress started to set in on people's nerves. It was not uncommon for the soldiers to stop the march whenever they thought they saw, or heard, something moving in the dark. And when the trained soldiers were acting like that, it was easy to guess how the civilians would act with the same amount of stress.
As anyone would expect, they jumped and squaled everytime a severed power line let out a spark; or when broken pipelines would drip
'weird, cold liquid' on their shoulders; or indeed, whenever they felt like they stepped on something squishy. When they reached the halfway point, however, things began to get seriously unsettling.
In order to calm the civilian down, the soldiers had revised their formation so that a personnel would be stationed every two meters within the line. That way, whenever the civilians felt uneasy about something, they could consult to the nearest soldier, and sometimes, having a big gun by your side could be that much more calming.
Yet, even that was not enough to stop sudden screamfest to erupt.
"Alright people, please calm down for a second!" a soldier would often shout in order to quell the hysteria. "The faster we walk, the less time we'll need to cope with this horror. So we'd appreciate it if you can calm down for a second, and keep on pushi-"
Before the soldier could finish, somebody from the crowd of civilians pounced on him. It seems that something really did went wrong this time around.
"What on earth-, what are you doing?" was his last words before that somebody, or rather, something tore his throat open with its fangs.
And soon afterwards, an uproar ensued.
Panicked, the civilians began to scatter to all places, confusing the soldiers and their fellow civilians, who in turn began to scramble all over the place as well. In the confusion, the beasts that were wearing human skin began their assault in full. Like a rabid wolf in a chicken den, they massacred civilians and soldiers alike.
Apparently, the enemy were just lowly harvesters; infected humans that underwent Etrification thanks to Barghest's spores somehow ending up inside their nervous system. However, with the darkness and confusion masking their presence; and the panicked civilians acting as their meat shields, this battle would not be quite so simple.
Team John
Mission: Impossible
Spoiler
Despite being only six-men-strong, the team had proven themselves to be a formidable adversity for the Etrangers. With John actively directing where and when the soldiers should shoot, and Canaan acting as an impenetrable fortress that protects his allies, the team successfully slipped past the Ets' first line of defense, and entered the most dangerous part of their escape: the dead center of the flying Ets' invasion.
"Enemy at the front, rear, flank, and above. Basically we'll be able to hit some enemy wherever we shoot. Pretty neat, isn't it?" John's casual voice rang through the troopers' vox channel. It was unclear if he was trying to be sarcastic, optimistic, or a little bit both at the same time. Whatever the case was, the fact that their commander still had the presence of mind to crack a joke was reassuring for the team.
"Alright guys, here's the plan. We charge through a straight line. No brakes, no slowing down. We'll break through as far as we can, you hear?" he continued, now in a more serious tone. "Canaan, you'll be responsible in opening the path for us. I'll snare the Ets that get too close to our position. The four of you should only shoot those who managed to slip past my nets. Any questions?"
Of course, there was none. After all, the plan was pretty straight forward. In a literal sense. And sometimes, simple plans with no twists such as this could be really successful.
With Canaan viciously slashing through the Ets like they were butter, the swarm could not help but instinctively move away from his blade. Using that to his advantage, John managed to trap huge amount of Ets with his 'Heart' cards, which explode into snare nets upon activation. Whatever ets that evaded entanglement and decided to charge towards the team, would be shot down by the other four guy.
For a makeshift team, their teamwork was almost flawless. Too bad for them, however, their resources was simply too limited against the myriads of Flyers. In less than five minutes, John ran out of 'Heart' cards; Canaan was getting tired from the constant melee; and the troopers too, were running low on ammo.
If this were anybody else, it would be easy to start losing hope at this point. But not this team.
"Canaan, switch!" John shouted as he revved his bike to get in front of Canaan. In his right hand was his 'Spade' card, which turns into HGE sword upon activation. While he was not as strong as Canaan, he's still more effective at cutting though Ets than a fatigued Canaan.
Canaan, then positioned in the center of the formation, was tasked with taking care of the congregating Ets. To accomplish this task, he was equipped with John's third set of cards, the 'Clover' cards, which are.. High-powered HGE hand grenades, essentially. They are programmed to produce massive explosion three seconds after being activated. While not as effective in immobilizing the Ets, especially since the place was too open for the explosion to be 100% fatal, they should be enough to scatter the Ets and hamper them from catching up with the team.
As for the soldiers, they were told not to shoot unless they are confident they could kill the Ets with 3 shots or less. Crazy as it may sound, it was still better than running out of ammo and become completely defenseless in the last leg of the run. The soldiers understood that fact, and did their best in waiting for the Ets to come as close as possible before they pull their triggers.
500 meters until we reach the Town Center...
300.. 200.. 100..
Just before the team reached the town center, an explosion erupted under them, throwing them off their vehicles. It took the team a few long seconds later to identify their new adversary: Siegebreakers. Cannonball-like devourers with the ability to explode, were burrowing near the Town Center, as if waiting for the right moment to ambush the escapee from wall team.
"Seriously now.. You mean these guys are that determined to finish off their preys?" said John as he rustled his hair to get the dirt off his head. While he was still far from sounding serious, his men realized that his confident smirk was no longer there.
"There's only around 80m to the Town Center. If we could get there, at least the flyers would not be that much of a problem," he thought to himself. "But outrunning the Ets would be virtually impossible for the regular humans.. What to do then? Do I abandon them and run? Or.. Damn, I can't think of a good enough plan with our current resources."
In the end, John played the last trick up his sleeve. He threw his last 'Clover' card at the nearest Siegebreaker, hoping that the explosion would cause a chain reaction.
Which it did, thankfully.
"This is our chance. Run!"
Without turning back, the team ran with all their might. However, the explosion curtain only lasted for that much time. It was not enough for the team to gain enough head start. And soon, the flyers seemed to be catching up with them. Just before the first flyer's vicious claws managed to draw the first blood, however, an arrow of light pierced it in the head.
"Magical Girl Riona to the rescue~♪" a loud, spirited, almost angelic voice reverberated through the worn out soldiers' ears. The source of the voice, was a girl in a tattered black cloak. Her eyes were emerald green, and she wore short, dark brown hair. Her most prominent feature, however, was her skin tone. It was noticeably darker than the average human, which was rare considering that they have spent the last five generations with no contact with direct sunlight.
Though, the first thing that caught John's attention was, "... That's a big ass bow you have."
Yep. It was her weapon. She was holding a bow that was clearly longer than she was tall. The edges seemed to be sharp, and the shape of the arches slightly resembles longswords. In fact, the center seemed curiously similar to sword hilts, joined into one.
"Well, whatever. You are a big help, 'Magic Girl' Riona. Think you could help us a little bit more?" the commander continued, completely oblivious to the girl's unique skin color.
"If you're talking about keeping the flyers at bay while you take that Gigas down, why the hell not?" the girl Riona replied as she point towards the huge shape that's slowly walking out of the setting smoke and debris. It was the same Gigas that took Wall Pristina down, Acrimonia; a bloated mass of leathery madness, covered with disgusting warts and oozing with corrosive sludge.
Apparently, it's too disgusting for Riona to fight or something. John could see no other explanation for it, as the girl was standing on tens of Flyers' corpses and seemed to be capable enough to defeat the Gigas all by herself.
"Uhh.. Better that than certain death, I guess? We'll see what we can do."
Enemy Stats:
Spoiler
Riona will take care of the Flyers that would fly too close for comfort for the team
The Gigas Acrimonia has a CP of 30, which is pretty high considering that you only have 6 party members including John & Canaan. Fight smart :3
To make things even harder, as stated, John has run out of both 'Heart' and 'Clover' cards, which means no explosion and no snare traps~
Kitty may feel free to join this fight. I have free pass for you :3
Acrimonia:
Spoiler
Edited by Crouching Bacon, 19 August 2015 - 03:58 PM.
One slight mistake... just one. It is enough for someone to die. Dio cursed himself for his incompetence for dropping the stranger on his back. Just as he tried to retrieve his companion. He can clearly see the incoming horde of ets just a few meters ahead. The odds are obviously against Dio to rescue the person whose name still remains a mystery for him, injured wrist and increasing number of foes. His heart tells him to track back and rescue his bike companion albeit facing the endless wave of ets but the logical side of him told him the otherwise.
In the end, logic emerges victorious although it is fueled by the primal instinct that resides in his mind, fear. For the first time in his life as an anima he tasted fear. An emotion he swore to erase from his mind long ago. Dio can feel a slight tremble on his hand as he witness the literal hell in the form of grotesque creatures stampeding just before his eyes. Just before a lesser ets pounced on him, Dio stepped on the gas and back to the escape route he planned before.
On his way of escape, the young anima screamed his lung out. He is angered and annoyed by the weakness he showed despite he is an anima, the meaningless resolution which he made long ago and the unknown person who save his life back in the tower. Bearing all this weight on his shoulder, he steeled his heart and charges forward.
A brief moment past before he saw something that interests him. A stand off between a party of soldiers and a group of ets, in the midst of the ets his eyes caught on a larger and eerier looking monster, a gigas class. With a will for not repeating the same mistake he made, Dio stretches out his wing and let the unattended speeding bike charges toward the horde before releasing a shot from his rifle toward the moving vehicle.
As the bullet pierces through the air, Dio can only hope that the aim with his right hand is true..
Spoiler
CP: 10
Might - 2
Finesse - 3
Compatibility - 3
Trait:
Silent Watcher - it might be because you keep to yourself too often, but you have a thin presence. while good for infiltration purposes, this makes you less effective in communicating with others.
Gritty - you are used to seeing horrid stuff, and therefore less prone to morale damage.
Vici and Gethel had taken up positions on opposite sides of the convoy, Vici supervising from the front, with Gethel keeping an eye on the rear as the evacuation procedures were moving along fairly smoothly. Of course, that wasn't to stay for long. Some of the would-be evacuees turned out to be harvesters, humans that have underwent Etrification. The darkness combined with the element of surprise did not bode well for Vici and Gethel's soldiers. Split up as mass panic broke out, Vici had to regain control of the situation at any cost.
Terra's distinctive bark echoed through the cavern as Vici fired it upward. Lighting a flare and throwing it at his feet, Vici made his rallying call.
"GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES AND REGROUP!"
Vici followed up the rallying call with directions regarding the handling of harvesters:
"Trust your judgement, and execute the enemy judiciously. If a civilian is making it difficult to determine whether they are a harvester or still retain their humanity, incapacitate them with nonlethal shots. If your life is threatened, kill the enemy. WE WILL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE ALIVE"
Shortly after roaring out his orders, nearby soldiers and civilians gathered around Vici's flare and took up defensive positions, waiting out the harvesters. With a perimeter established, the soldiers' jobs became much easier. Vici took up a forward position ahead of the soldiers to help screen the civilians coming through for Etrification. They needed to get this done quickly and efficiently, because right now there's a single girl holding off untold numbers of horrors just for the evacuation of these civilians and Vici was going to make damn sure the evacuation was a success. Once his group had acquired a solid amount of soldiers, Vici placed the most senior one in charge of holding the position and keeping an eye out for harvesters. Placing his trust in their training, Vici lit another flare and waded towards the other end of the evacuation line to link up with Gethel, Terra always loaded and at the ready for some poor harvester to try and make a snack of the furious Anima.
"Negative. Among the two of us, you have the higher base capability. If we were to split up task between distracting and eliminating the enemy, the best course of action would be to assign you, the strongest of us two, as the destroyer and I, the weakest, as the distraction. Assigning roles in the reverse would reduce our effectiveness by roughly 30%,"
"B-but..."
"Your ability will become stronger the more machinery you have under your command, won't it? Then I would like you to use my weapons as you see fit as I try to lure the beast's attention away from you."
"Hold on-"
But without a single word, the Robotic girl left to engage the monster by itself, leaving Noix with a pile of weapons.
"Ara, this is why Machines are so boring, they don't understand how to deliver entertainment as dramatically as possible...unless I give them a little of my spark~ As she said, the created a black cord from both of her arms, and pointed them at the weapons below her. "But on the other hand, the fireworks will be delightful!"
With a snap of her fingers, the Automaton that was on stand-by quickly hurried to her side, and kneeled next to the pile of weapons, Noix climbed on its back, and used one of her cords to connect with it, and the other to surround the pile of weapons, starting to group the weapons on the Automatons Rifle's, engaging them using Noix's own Black Cord and body.
"Hahaha, I am going to give it to the girl...this surely will be a blast" After all the preparations were complete, the Automaton, or rather, Noix slowly started to position the new powered weapon on the Automatons Arm, carefully aiming at her target, currenlty being distracted by the Robot girl and
Oh?
As Noix started to channel her own HGE energy through the weapon, she noticed that someone who should be half-dead was also attacking the Et.
Pfft, the one who should be getting the spotlight is me
As a Planeswalker, Noix was able to quickly pour largue quantities of HGE. though this was a doubled edged sword, right now her only obstacle was currently being held down. As the weapon was fully charged, she carefully aimed her weapon at the thorax of the giant monster.
"On my mark!" she shouted "Five...four...three...two...one..."
While RCL-014f managed to succeed in drawing the Gigas' attention away from Noix, it was only a matter of time before she completely runs of energy. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you ask) F-216 managed to force herself up, grabbing a thick rod of titanium steel, in place of her now rendered useless dual-bladed staff, as she made her intentions of helping clear. Though, RCL was too preoccupied with the Gigas to notice F-216 getting up and getting back into the battle.
Charging recklessly at the massive Estranger, being considerably lighter after dropping all of her weapons, she skillfully dodged the Gigas heavy and powerful strikes seemingly with ease. She was unsure how long she was able to do so but she was determined to buy Noix all the time needed for her to get a clear shot at the beast. However, as she was able to just dodge the Estranger, she noticed that the Gigas was no longer striking her down. Wondering what the hell was going on, she followed it's line of sight and saw that F-216 was up and about and was back in the battle.
As F-216 somersaulted onto a fallen column, her injuries and current state caused her to slightly stumble. Though she regained her balance, it was all for naught as the Gigas had it's full attention on her and was preparing a massive final strike and turn her into jelly. Unable to escape or properly defend herself, F-216 was seemingly done for, her premature revival just being a prelude of her final end. Just as its powerful strike was about to connect, RCL managed to intercept its fist by stabbing the Estrangers arm with a steel pipe she picked off the ground, saving F-216.
However, she incurred it's wrath as it punched RCL into a wall and proceeded into making the cyborg into its new toy as it grabbed the RCL's crumbled body by the legs and started smashing her into the ground and walls. After several vicious stomps, it let out a loud howl as it grabbed RCL, picked her high off the ground, as it dangled her above its mouth as it was about to eat her. Before it can, F-216 managed to smash her makeshift weapon into it’s head, causing the Gigas to drop RCL, sending her smashing into the ground, causing it to forget defense and go out on the offensive. All of which proved to be a big mistake, as Noix shouted, making sure F-216 got out of the way as she fired a large concentrated blast of HGE right at the beast causing the massive Estranger to stagger backwards, leaving it dazed.
OOC Info:
Spoiler
F-216 got lucky and rolled a 12, managing to succeed in getting a hit in, dropping its defense, despite her injuries
Noix rolled an 18, lucky bastard, and the usually ineffective HGE attack managed to stun the ET and send it staggering. Keep in mind, no more HGE attacks would work on this Gigas, 'cause, you know, HGE immunity. Consider this a gift.
And RCL...well....what needs to be said really? She rolled a 3 and got rekt, recieving fatal wounds. She gets a death Flag!
The Gigas hasn't been defeated but its in position to be. The battle is drawing near. Will our heroes kill the Gigas? Or die an excruciating and gory end (plz bad rolls plz) Stay sharp.
While we fade away from the bustling market where our benevolent giant resides, we spend what seems to be endless hours winding through the unfamiliar cobblestone streets. Slithering through the labyrinth of darkened streets and narrow passages until in this expansive city, we reach a place where the light rarely touches. There, beneath a fickle and flickering lamp, sitting upon her throne that marks her the queen of the underworld with a cunning and seductive smile is none other than I-Am-X. Calmly observing us with a yellowed iris beset upon harrowing black, her fanged grin only grows wider as her fingertip guides the rod that stirs a tall, thin glass of suspicious looking Red Wine. Here in the Dark, we exist temporarily in her Kingdom. A place where the unsavory sorts can find sanctuary, a black market, and often the tools of death, subtlety, and subterfuge.
Sliding her sultry fingertip upon the spine of a book, the tome seems almost alive as it shudders and props open to a blank, but weathered page. Dipping a sharpened fountain pen in ink, she takes her mark upon the leathery parchment after a sip of her Bloodied delicacy. Not a moment later for us, the innocent-minded folks living upon the streets above, she describes to us her next devilish machination.
“As cowards chase their shadows, we march boldly into the jaws of death to steal back our dignity as men and women of this planet.”
“For too long we were forced to sit and wait, while our enemies prepared and grew stronger.”
“And for all that time, our leaders did nothing but lie to us."
"They promised hope and a return to peace, but the “peace” so many of us gave our lives for has long since died. Our leaders only concern themselves with growing fat with power as they sleep soundly in a cradle made of our blood and tears.”
“An alien horde of murder and chaos sweeps through our streets this very instant, killing our friends and feasting on their flesh.”
“Yet none saw it coming: not the fool on the street, the baby in it’s mother’s lap, or the people whose purpose it is to stop these things before it happens.”
“Now those very, same people wish us to abandon this place, so we can help them survive just a bit longer.”
“They lie through their teeth, claiming that their survival is humanity’s survival -- branding us cowards when they have failed us over and over and over again.”
“Let the sheep run back to their masters, so that they can have their throats slit and their blood used to soften their master’s bread.”
“We are free, thinking men and women who understand what we are fighting for. Because every time one of our brothers die, we see their faces and we know their names.”
“Those people do not. All they see are numbers. But we are more than the tools they have labeled us.”
“Today we shall unleash the whirlwind of our wrath as we decimate this latest opposition. Our guns will never tire until we have beaten back every foe. These beasts are but simply the first of many who we will feed their own blood to.”
“It's all about Power."
"Grabbing it. Keeping it. Using It."
"Power is our currency, our DNA... Our God.”
"We control the World."
"We provide the blueprint. And we give the Instructions."
Despite Janet's rally, there was no helping the soldiers from feeling the fear. After all, standing before them were the swarm of Etrangers that managed to drove not one, but two mighty Lindwurms from Feldine. Led by the monstrous Titan Atomos, standing at roughly 20 meters tall from shoulder to toe, and 30-35 meters long from head to tail (discounting the horrendous teethy appendages writhing in and about its mouth), the Ets before them were unmistakably a stuff of nightmare.
And it was not only the soldiers that's feeling the horror. Janet herself, even when she act strong in front of her men, could not help but feel helpless against the monstrosity before her eyes. After all, not half a day ago, she failed to stop a Gigas from breaking into the city with five times as many soldiers as she had now. To stop this Titan with nothing but 20 just adequately equipped soldiers and no other Anima was, in short, impossible.
Still, better the death of a warrior than a life of a dog. That, every living soul in Janet's team had agreed upon. As such, they solemnly took their position in this battlefield, soon to be their graves. Unlike before, they positioned themselves in sparse V-shaped formation. Janet, of course, was positioned in the dead center of it. The idea behind it was to funnel the Ets into Janet's kill zone, where she will use her fiery rage to turn them into burnt charcoal.
In order to do so with nothing but limited amount of ammo and a measly pair of hand grenade each, the soldiers need to brave themselves into positioning themselves rather far away from each other, and wait until the very end before firing their gun at the countless Ets. The fact that they managed to do just so, shown how much they trust Janet as their commander.
It was a bond that cannot be made in just an instant. No, it was a bond forged by spending long years of training and serving together in the battlefield; a true bond between those who had faced death together, and lived to tell a tale of it around a bonfire. The soldiers were ready to follow Janet until they die, and they fully believed that Janet would not throw their lives away.
And today, that bond would be tested at its fullest. With the army of harvesters quickly gaining on them, the soldiers were assaulted with untold amount of fear.
"What if I miss my mark? What if they don't die even after I fire at them? What if they can get to me before I even get to fire?"
Such are the thoughts that ran through the soldiers' minds. They were all screaming at them to make them pull the trigger a second sooner; to keep the Ets one inch further; to stay alive for one second longer. And the fact that they could stop themselves from submitting to those thoughts, were in itself a praiseworthy achievement in and on its own.
"Steady.. Steady.." Janet repeated constantly, as if to calm the soldiers down. And once she thought the Ets were close enough, "Now! Fire! Fire at will men! Let them taste our RAGE!" she roared as fire started to build around her palms.
Sadly for her, however, her passionate command could not reach the men serving under her. For it was swallowed by a roar far louder, far more terrible. As if reading her mind, Atomos let out a devastating roar, filled to the brim with high-density HGE, just a friction of a second apart from Janet's order to fire. The roar shook the very air surrounding the battlefield, and Janet could feel it ripple violently around her ears. She felt as if the sudden and constant change in pressure would make her head explode, though thankfully that didn't happen. For her, anyways.
The moment she opened her eyes, she realized what the Titan was trying to do. Faced with such violent explosion of air, the soldiers could not help but be rattled. They instinctively reached for their ears, which means they would be forced to drop their guns. And even then, the sheer turbulence was enough to rupture their eardrums, which would make them lose their balance, making recovery next to impossible. With the Ets not slowing down one bit; the way Janet saw it, her men were seconds away from being turned from living, breathing, human into a huge messy pile of minced meat and blood.
What would she do? Or rather, what could she do?
Team Vici
Pandemonium
Spoiler
Vici's direction was spot on. He gave clear direction on what and what not to do to both the civilians and his fellow soldiers. But there were two key elements that he had forgotten to take account to: the civilians' state of mind, and the rate of which the infection was spreading. As such, things were not really as under control as he wanted them to. Not even close, actually.
Given the civilians' state of panic, it was close to impossible for the soldiers to organize them. And with them running about, it was next to impossible for them to properly identify the lurking harvesters. In the end, the soldiers could do nothing but shoot non-lethal rounds on the civilians that made it way too difficult for them to make any progress. And the result, inevitably, was the growing distrust between the civilians and the soldiers.
It was frustrating how such a 'minor' threat such as harvesters could pose this much of a problem to a group of trained and armed soldiers and two Anima. But the fact is, they were going nowhere with the situation, and the body count kept on rising. The infection was spreading fast, and if left alone, Vici and Gethel would probably be the only two survivors of the entire situation.
Toybox: RCL-014f
Cocytus
Spoiler
There was no pain; her sensors perceiving the damage received by her body only as warning signals. There was no panic; her built-in processors filtering and eliminating any and every irrelevant human emotions. Yes, there was nothing but random mechanical noises that accompanied RCL-014f's death.
In fact, it should not even be called death in the first place. Death is a term used when a living being ceased from being one. As for her, she was not even alive in the first place. She was a doll, a marionette made of leftover flesh, designed to replace invaluable human lives as combatants in the long and bloody war against the Etrangers.
Therefore, the fact that her body sustained fatal damage; the fact that she encountered several critical errors in her limbs and organs control system; was something more akin to a robot breaking than a life ending. After all, her soul; the soul of a girl whose name had been long since forgotten; had left the body long ago, replaced by an artificial intelligence the Council of Advancement had coded into on her brain.
Then why? Why would she start remembering memories that should have been wiped clean of her brain? Why would she be seeing faces she should have no recognition of? Why? Why would her eyes excrete warm tears as if they belong to the girl that she once was?
As the violent beating ceased, as the noisy alarm ringin in her head crescendo-ed into a long, flatline beep, RCL was finally free from the binding the scientists had placed on her. Her eyes, no longer shrouded by the visor they had placed upon her, tried their best to focus on the visage of the person she just saved. Damaged by the repeated impact to the spine and blurred by tears, it was safe to assume that she could barely see anything. Yet still, she recognized the person she was seeing.
"Sis..ter... I'm glad.. To see you.. One last time."
And then, her core ceased all functions. Light left her eyes, and her entire body lost all power, just like a marionette cut free of its strings. Thick, red liquid began to seep out of her wounds, draping her cold body in a red, warm blanket.
It was the end of RCL-014f.
Edited by Crouching Bacon, 11 September 2015 - 12:13 PM.
Despite the odds, things were going better than expected as the 6 of them, with John ordering the other 4 to perfection and with Canaan keeping the attention on him. But nevertheless, it wasn't over and weren't even close to getting out of there. After John managed to reassure the others with a joke, he began instructing everyone. Replying simply with "Understood", he started back up his grav bike and plunged right into the hoard of ETs and immediately began tearing into them.
With each swing, the ETs went down as easily as they came but that wasn't the problem. 5....10.....15.....There was no point in counting the number cut down, not like he was counting to begin with because no matter they killed, more would always take their place and continue to throw themselves at them. Weak individually, but they had numbers on their side and they were gradually wearing Canaan and the others down. Not to mention that they were almost out of ammunition and the fact there's only 6 of them. Surprisingly enough, the soldiers that chose to stick with them, seemed to have intention of giving up or losing hope like they did before. Humans sure can change quite drastically in a short amount of time.... a passing thought as Canaan slice through another estranger.
Noticing Canaan's fatigue setting in, John switched in and took over the vanguard position from him, while giving Canaan some of his 'Clover' cards, which basically function as HGE grenades and tasked with eliminating the gather ETs. With the right timing, they were able to break past them and were on the home stretch to the objective when a big explosion from below threw them off their Grav Bikes. If that wasn't bad enough, they were ambushed by another swarm....Siegebreakers.... As if expecting and waited for them, it seems fate really don't want them to leave the city alive. They were fortunate that John had another trick up his sleeve, but giving the reaction on his face, it was his last. It was also quite fortunate that his gamble worked, However, just as they began their sprint to the finish, their big break was cut short after mere moments when the flyers were already on them again.
When it seemed like they were doomed, as the flyer was drilled in the head with an arrow of light which was followed by a strange voice shouting something strange. As everyone turned to the owner of this voice, they were greeted by dark girl wearing a tattered black cloak and wielding a really large bow. Suffice to say, the weird day got even weirder. But they didn't have time to get acquainted as their next enemy was making it's appearance. While not aiding them in taking on the Gigas, the strange newcomer offered to take care of their flyer problem for them while they fought the ET, which was quite revolting.
Just as they were about to engaged, a shot was heard from a distance as the head of the Gigas exploded and bile and acid spewed everywhere. Luckily, none of them were hit by the aftermath. While curious as to the identity of the one who fired that shot, he didn't move an inch. As the others relaxed a bit, thinking it was over, Canaan remained in battle ready mode as he glared at the monsters body. Despite how it looked, there's no way that a single bullet from a man made gun will take out a Gigas class. And that thought was proven true moments later as they were all shocked when the Gigas grew a new head and seemed completely unharmed. The 4 soldiers moved to fire upon the monster but John stopped them in time. Given the explosion of its head, and how it expelled that acid and bile, can only imagine how bad it could've gotten had they just started randomly fired at it.
With no moves to make, in a surprising change of events, John placed Canaan in temporary command while he tries to figure up a plan. Despite the annoyances of command, Canaan responded with the usual "Understood" and gave them simple instructions. Those instructions? Keep the thing distracted and its attention away from Him as he moves in closer to combat the beast. Oh, and to avoid hitting the bastard and emitting that poisonous sludge and acid, and dont die doing it. Simple right? Canaan was left with little choice but too confront the Gigas in close Quarters Combat, given the fact that was the kind of fighter he was. He hoped the newcomer, who turned out to be another anima, got the hint as well and would avoiding shooting the thing with his gun again. Only time will tell...
With all that out of the way, Canaan and the troops made their move. He could only hope they'll be able to buy him the time needed for him to get in and get in a good hit. This battle was pretty much up to him and the new anima until John thinks of something.
OOC:
Spoiler
CP: 11
- Might:5 (8 with Juggernaut)
- Finesse: 2
- Compatibility: 3
Second Heart Skills:
[3][P]Juggernaut [0/0] - An ability granted by his 2nd heart that allows him to channel HGE and convert it to increase his physical strength and endurance. Passively gives +3 Might.
Traits:
Oppressive - Your huge frame, combined with your silence, gives you an oppressive presence. Enemies and allies alike do not like being around you.
Gritty - You are used to seeing the horrors of war, and as a result, is more resistant to morale damage.
While we fade away from the bustling market where our benevolent giant resides, we spend what seems to be endless hours winding through the unfamiliar cobblestone streets. Slithering through the labyrinth of darkened streets and narrow passages until in this expansive city, we reach a place where the light rarely touches. There, beneath a fickle and flickering lamp, sitting upon her throne that marks her the queen of the underworld with a cunning and seductive smile is none other than I-Am-X. Calmly observing us with a yellowed iris beset upon harrowing black, her fanged grin only grows wider as her fingertip guides the rod that stirs a tall, thin glass of suspicious looking Red Wine. Here in the Dark, we exist temporarily in her Kingdom. A place where the unsavory sorts can find sanctuary, a black market, and often the tools of death, subtlety, and subterfuge.
Sliding her sultry fingertip upon the spine of a book, the tome seems almost alive as it shudders and props open to a blank, but weathered page. Dipping a sharpened fountain pen in ink, she takes her mark upon the leathery parchment after a sip of her Bloodied delicacy. Not a moment later for us, the innocent-minded folks living upon the streets above, she describes to us her next devilish machination.
With one fist raised to steady the men behind her and steel their resolve, Janet let the cool breeze of fear and anxiety wash over her and knot inside her stomach as the ETs trampled over each other as they raced towards them.
But those emotions were small drops in a tidal wave of other emotions that were currently threatening to swallow her whole. Chief among them were anger and disgust. Instead of dwelling on those negative emotions however and fighting against them, Janet expertly let them funnel around her, feeding her sense of purpose, determination, and flames.
In her mind, it wasn’t a question of whether or not she was going surviving this battle but rather, how many of these ugly beasts she was going to annihilate.
With every second her inner inferno burned away her fear and hate and left nothing but destruction in it’s place. Soon the monstrous ETs charging towards her looked less like the stuff of nightmares, and more like dry kindling waiting to be ignited.
“Steady,” Janet hissed, her eyes now black and the HGE lines visible beneath her skin.
“Now! Fire! Fire at will men! Let them taste our RAGE!”
But before the hail of gunfire could begin, the titan, Atomos, who was six stories tall and ten stories long, and whose mouth was filled with teeth several feet long, let out a HGE-empowered scream that deafened all of the humans and forced them to their knees with shattered eardrums.
Stumbling back a bit as she covered her own bleeding ears, Janet found herself dazed and on the verge of throwing up as she watched her men fall to the ground and scream silently.
Lashing out in pain, Janet fired a one-handed Solar Flare into the screaming mouth of Atomos before following it up with her other hand. The force of the attack was enough to silence the scream and drive the titan back as it fell onto it’s surrounding minions.
Not sure if Atomos was dead or not, Janet continued her attack by aiming it across the enemy line and field of battle. For a few moments there after, the air was thick with the smell of death but still there was no sound other than her ringing, bleeding ears.
On the ground all around her, her soldiers were floored. Screaming and shouting at each other for help, but none of them could hear themselves or anything at all. The blood vessels in their eyes were as equally shattered as their eardrums. Some even bled openly from their mouths as they rolled around on the ground.
Janet was the only one still standing and tried to get the rest of her men back on their feet but even she found it difficult to move, much less stay upright. Just then the ETs appeared again, jumping out of the smoke of her first attack, and began mauling the prone soldiers.
The attack was swift, bloody and one-sided. Left and right, soldiers were being devoured and torn apart. Still stiff and numb, Janet ignited the remaining HGE particles in her body, shattering the battlefield and scorching the earth one final time.
“It's all about Power."
"Grabbing it. Keeping it. Using It."
"Power is our currency, our DNA... Our God.”
"We control the World."
"We provide the blueprint. And we give the Instructions."