Chapter 2: Return to Gurrai

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Mar 8, 2015 7:40 pm
This is my last post for today, I really need to do other stuff but I am having a blast with this. Without further ado...

You all are safe in the hangar. Stepping out of the defensers, the customary black cloth covers them head to toe as per usual, as they are lowered by elevator underground. The remains of Soniku, and Rozlt's unit are also lowered downwards.

Ara: You come back to consciousness in a sterile, brightly lit room. Where-where am I? Looking to your right you see Miu lying on the bed next to you, being attended by a man in white robes. Really...she still looks like an angel. The warmth of your bed beckons you again, and you fall asleep. Ara, for now you're down and out in some sort of medbay. I want to give the others some space to shine, and I don't think Ara would be running around just yet after her heroics anyway.

The rest of you stand on the rickety walkways that allow you to enter your Type-12s, and stretching tiredly climb or take ladders down the haphazard walkways and girders.
Casting your eyes about the familiar hangar: Makeshift walkways crisscross in front of where the defensers usually stand (right now being lowered by elevator down below). They are designed to swing outwards when the Defensers sortie. The hangar itself is, just like the poor parts of the city and the defensers, cobbled together out of multiple materials. Lastly, a large metal/wood door where the defensers walk out is currently closed. The only thing uniform about the hangar is the shiny elevators that lower the defensers.
You reach the floor after the climb, and looking about, the other runners are as exhausted as you are. Not just another day in the office.
Two hooded fixers in black and silver cloaks stride forward to Osiris. Speaking synthetically through their odd voice apparatuses:
"Whats that ball you brought back?"

What do you do? Keep in mind the fixers are only talking to Osiris, and although you can hear what they're saying, you don't need to get involved.
Mar 8, 2015 8:20 pm
"You two can wait. I need to talk to my CO."

Sidestepping the robes, Osiris quickly walks over to Darani, grabs her by the back collar of her suit, and pulls her along with him as they duck into a locker room for suiting up. He pins her against one of the lockers and stares into her eyes with a combination of determination and confusion.

"What the hell was that Darani? The images? The voice? Did you get anything other than what we saw? I need to know, because whatever it was it's dying."
Mar 8, 2015 8:25 pm
Returning to Gurrai should have been a relief for Spax, however, he was wracked with more stress than he'd been in on the battlefield. For one thing, Ara was unconscious when the defensers had slipped through the cities gates, and she hadn't woken up once, at least unbeknownst to him. Medical officials had carted both Ara and her sister away immediately after arriving. Spax worried constantly about His childhood friend. She had really been in danger out there today, those... things had almost overwhelmed Soniku's armor and would have tore into Ara's cockpit. Spax shuddered when he thought of what that would have looked like. He put the thought out of his mind as quickly as it had risen. "Don't worry about that now. She's safe." Spax sounded assured as he whispered to himself, but in his mind, he was full of doubt.

A myriad of voices launched into a symphony of questions.

What if she doesn't make it next time?
Who will watch her back?
Is this really the safest place for Ara?
Why did this all happen in the first place?
Are our Defensers strong enough to protect us? The city?


An official fixer of Gurrai snapped Spax back into reality as it launched a pointed question at Osirus. Ball? What ball?
Mar 8, 2015 10:48 pm
Osiris:The robes seem to smirk as if saying whatever, we're taking it anyway, and stride away. As you grab Darani she weakly struggles, but being manhandled by an angry 6 foot tattooed man isn't exactly a cuppa' tea. Slammed into a locker, her breath leaves her, and looking into your eyes slumps tiredly.
***I don't know, okay? She-it was a she-she made me connect to you, and then she used me-as a conduit-for her voice. I saw what you saw...the men, the weird stuff, the weapons under that pavilion...***
She breathes heavily and then talks with her voice.
"I really don't know squat more than you do, I'm only kind of sure she was a girl. Hurt, afraid. And then something hurt her worse, and the link just kind of snapped."
Looking at Darani, she's young, only a little older than Spax and Ara. She's obviously not in a good state.
"Can I go now? I screwed up and just about everyone is dead, okay? I really need to stone myself with a drink. Unless you want to join me?"

Spax: your worry for Ara is tangible, she might even be able to feel it. Snapping back, you hear the robed men ask about the "ball", and you see Osiris push past them impatiently. They seem to smirk under their masks. You think back...
Osiris picked up a ball? What bal-oh, that yellow orb that was in the slug's gut.
Unless there's anything else you want to do...
Exhausted, you decide to hit the hay for the night.

Sofor: You there?

Ara: you sleep fitfully in the medbay, waking in starts to look at Miu to check if she's okay. She is as calm as ever.

Anything else anyone wants to do?
Mar 8, 2015 11:14 pm
Sofőr watches as Osiris blows off the robes and grabs Darani. "Hopefully he'll get some answers as to what those images were all about. Not sure roughing up the CO is the way to go about it though but what do I know." Seeing the robes walking away and a bit curious about the orb that Osiris brought in, Sofőr decides to follow them for a bit.

Working his way past other runners, most of which appear to much younger than himself, he mutters "I'm getting too old for this", and continues to trail the robes.
Sofőr will trail the robes and try to keep within listening distance to see what they might have to say about the orb (if anything at all).

Rolls

Speed Check (Trained in Stealth) - (1d20)

(9) = 9

Mar 9, 2015 12:43 am
Osiris's muscles relax as his exhaustion finally catches up with him. He wraps his arms around Darani and the two of them slump down to sit on the floor. Osiris rests Darani's head on his shoulder and holds her close as she sits in his lap. His tone softens as he runs his fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry. This wasn't your fault. The egg-heads gave us bad intel and we had to run with it. You did everything you could, it's just... Look, we lost what? Two kids out there today, but when that thing jumped into your head, I was scared we had lost you too. I wasn't ready for that, and I shouldn't take it out on you. I was scared, for the first time in a long time, and I remember why I hate the feeling."

Osiris lays his head back against the locker he's leaned up against. As much as he tries to hide it, he knows he's just as much of a kid as the rest of the runners. He's not even 21 yet. He just lies there with Darani in his arms for a few minutes. He then kisses the top of her head, picks her up, and the two of them walk out of the locker room.

"Y'know, I think I'll take you up on that drink."
Mar 9, 2015 12:58 am
Spax begins to verbally attack Osiris, "Hey don't treat women that... AH!" But is cut off by a sharp pain in his temple. He falls to his knee and grabs his head as they stride away. "Dammit! What is going on?"

The pain begins to abate and soon all Spax can feel is a low buzzing behind his eyes. He shuffles slowly back to his barracks and cleans himself off, removing his plug-suit and weapons and setting them aside to properly clean later. Under his garments his skin is covered in dozens of jagged scars.

Spax sits with a huff on his bed and slumps over pulling the covers over his lithe frame. Soon he is asleep.

That night Spax awakes while it's still dark. He stares upwards toward the barracks ceiling and breathes a sigh of relief while closing his eyes. "I did mom. I did it."
Mar 21, 2015 4:33 am
Hey guys, sorry for the long hiatus, I'm really sorry I kept you all waiting that long.
For good or ill my essay is finally turned in, and my head is out of my ass for the time being (thanks Sempai XD).
I'd recommend you read the questions that Kenny posted in the Characters forum, they're pretty useful and the answers so far have been informative and hella fun to read.

Also, I'll admit that while I think i'm pretty good at the action sequences, I'm a little inexperienced with instigating RP scenes. If there is any RP scenes/elements you want to see, please say so OOC in your posts. I would really appreciate the input.

Now, we resume Chapter 2.

Day 5 After the Flesh Slugs

Darani storms into the cafeteria followed by a young runner and Spax dragging a gigantic stack of large papers.
"Everyone, stand to and shut up! The brass say we need to shape up, so I'm supposed to show you these training slides. Mess around, and you get sent to the Lords, so pay attention!"
I'm establishing that Runners who misbehave or otherwise break rules get sent to the Lords for discipline. They come back after a week, but are melancholy and traumatized from the mysterious punishment until weeks have passed.)
Darani's assistants unroll the first massive paper and hold it up for everyone to see, and grim silence engulfs the cafeteria as an illustration of one of the flesh slugs is revealed.
Darani pulls several pamphlets from her uniform, and starts reading.
"A flesh slug is a new, previously unencountered Maelstrom creature, and seems to be an abominated form of the normal slug species. Utilizing it's tentacles more dangerously than the normal slug variant, the best tactic to avoid is to dodge....."
.....Subset 2.1.42: Dodging. Dodging is best achieved by moving out of the attacking object's attack as fast as possible. Use your legs to move aside, using your Defenser's weight to move aside. To reiterate, dodging and the following strategies are very important, so carefully note the following 20 subsets.....
.....hop up like a rabbit being hunted.....Subset 42.2.2: Swinging Swords......you may experience slight death......"

The ominous feeling in the cafeteria is enveloped by the new terror of horrible monotony. Still, Darani plows on bravely, trying to act as composed and official as possible while reading the document and pointing to the slides.
"Thou shall count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once at the number three, being the third number be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of-"
Someone in the crowd cuts her off with the crudest noise possible, a resounding ""BRAAAPP!"

"What the hell was that?! I need to recover my position-I mean, we all need to pay attention to-"
Darani is interrupted mid sentence with a pie to the face. She shakes it off laughing, and then grabbing a turkey pegs Osiris in the face. Indignant, with a "Yaaah!" he tosses a fish at her but misses, hitting Spax instead, and grinning Spax hefts a huge pot of porridge and dumps it all over Sofor, soaking Ara and Miu in the process, and soon, the cafeteria is engaged in a full on food war!
I'm writing the next post now, have fun with this one now if you'd like. I put Darani's speech in blue, and will do so with other colors for other characters. The runners are in brown.
Mar 21, 2015 5:43 am
Day 8

Things could have gone much much better, but, they also could also have turned out a million times worse.
The lookouts even reported that the slug's carcass and the orb sunk into the goop, things are looking up.
Despite losing a sixth of the runner corps, the little delights of being alive made it worthwhile returning to the city.

Watching Ara and Miu return after days from medbay, supporting a limping Zast between them...painting new kill marks on your defensers...eating together in the cafeteria, and that presentation and resulting food fight...Life isn't too bad, pelting someone with anchovies and welcoming friends return from the medbay is always so satisfying...

Interrupting your thoughts, long purple hair precedes her presence as the normally calm Miu bursts into the room, panting hard.
"Hei and Ace are needed outside the gates [pant], Darani, Spax, and Ara are on your shoulders. The higher ups want you out now, so follow me."
As you quickly walk to the hangars, Miu stops and points out a window looking out at the Amorphous Fields. Squinting, you spot what looks like a massive boulder moving towards the city
"Look. Thats an old iron giant, walking history. It's an old Defenser unit. Understandably *for once* (Miu lets out a dignified cough), our command is uncertain about it. They want you to make sure it's safe, and they also want you to ask it's runner how he's alive before letting him into the city."
Osiris and Sofor are in Ace and Hei, as they were the most undamaged defensers from the previous encounter. They are in front of the city gates. Spax is on Ace's shoulder, Ara is on Hei's shoulder, and Darani is on Hei's hand.
Your MagDrag equipment is replenished as are all your pools, except Ara has 2 Speed damage as she is still recovering from her earlier experience.


After leaving the hangar with Miu's serene blessing, you all watch and wait as the Defenser slowly ambles closer and closer, listing to one side. It appears to be many heads taller than the two Type-12s, but is also much wider, resembling a red overly armored boulder with thick arms and legs. Sporadically, steam shoots out of various points in it's armor.
With the flame red sunset behind it, the defenser is hard to see, although it's bloodred silhouette is quite striking.

***If I've got my history lessons right, I'd say that's an old Type-03 Maklugas, looking at it's shape. It also has the signature Maklugas blade on it's back, that big cleaver. Man, they really had no style back then, but at least those chimps figured out how to paint it.***

As it comes within 1000 feet, you see and smell that it didn't have a killer paint job after all, as instead it's stained head to toe in blood. It leaves red footprints behind it, and even seems to be dripping the stuff from gaps in it's armor.

Darani covers her face to block out the horrible smell, and sits in Hei's palm. She crosses her legs and closes her eyes.

***I can only do this for a couple minutes, but I can connect you mentally to whoever's inside that reeking thing. Just think something to me, and I'll send it over to whoever's in there and give you a response. I can't do it for long though, and you need to protect me while we're all connected. I'll go first.***

***Hey, Maklugas runner. Who are you, and how are you alive?***
The defenser pauses, and then with what sounds like a whirring of gears slams it's palm into it's head.
"***I've been seeing scary shit, I want back in the city! You have no idea what I've seen! I'm not trying to do any funny stuff, I just want in! Now!***
The Maklugas slams itself in the head again, and then starts stomping forward lifelessly again.
szemely, you have a pm incoming about that orb tomorrow.

Now, your move.
Mar 21, 2015 4:25 pm
OOC: Gurrai is back! Your welcome, btw.
For RP I'd like to leave the city and go on adventures outside it an see some other climes besides the muck here.


***"It's okay, it's okay! I want to let you in, I really do. Just stay still, and lets answer some questions, okay? So, who are you?"***

Although she 'speaks' soothingly Ara grabs onto Hei tightly, hoping that the person inside the Type-3 can't pick up on her unease.
Mar 21, 2015 5:33 pm
Osiris pops the hatch and calls up to Spax.

"Spax, hop off and protect Darani on Hei. I'm gunna go make a wall."

Ace strides forward about 100ft and begins to glow. The customary flash of blue is released as Ace is suddenly replaced with two copies. The two stand shoulder to shoulder in front of the incoming defensor, each holding out a hand as a signal to stop.

I can't let you pass unless you stop to answer our questions.

Osiris begins analyzing the old defensor as it approaches. This model was long out of commission even when Osiris first joined.

"Alright, let's see what you got under the hood."

Rolls

Analyze Weaknesses (Trained) (Int-Effort) - (1d20)

(2) = 2

Mar 21, 2015 6:16 pm
Retroactive food-fight post.

"I think I'm gunna avoid having to clean my suit after this."

Osiris dives under a table, tattoos aglow. An illusory Osiris then sprints from underneath to another piece of cover, drawing fire long enough for the real Osiris to slip out the mess hall door and back to his room unnoticed.

His room is almost empty. There is only a large bed in the corner, a chair against the wall, and a couple of floor pillows scattered around the room. Osiris crouches down next to the wall and punches a hole in it. When his hand emerges from the wall, he is holding a small, crystal cube. With a wave of the other hand the wall mends itself and Osiris takes a seat in his chair. He leans forward, resting his head on one hand while holding the cube to his temple. The crystal lights up and flashes with images of the last few days, including the battle with the newly dubbed 'flesh slugs'.

"Personal log for the 37th of Falstaff: It's been a hell of a week. We lost a few good people out there. God, what was her name? Annie? I think that was it. Either way, I looks like with the new training protocols the Brass has come to the same conclusion I've been wrestling with. It's getting worse. When I first got here the things that came after us were little more than mindless beasts. Now, they almost seem to have something resembling tactics. We weren't ready for that, but we'll have to be. I still can't get rid of the images Danari hit us all with from the mystery 'woman'. I'll see if I can get James on it. I also brought an orb back from one of those things that I need to get to him before the Brass comes looking for that too. They've already said they want it, so I'm not going to be surprised if the room gets ransacked because they've gotten tired of waiting. As long as they keep their attention on me and don't go after anyone else I won't have to do anything stupid. I can keep myself out of their reach well enough. I can't say the same for the rest of the unit. I'll keep in touch. This is Osiris Yesran signing off."

Osiris then removes the crystal cube from his temple, busts a different hole in the wall, deposits the cube, and mends the wall back into place with his hedge magic.

"Best be getting back to that food fight before anyone realizes I'm gone."
Mar 21, 2015 6:55 pm
Sofőr has Hei lower his left hand in an offer to scoop up Spax. With Darani in one hand, and Ara on the opposite shoulder, Sofőr is reluctant to make any kind of sudden movement. Opening up the hatch he yells to the others, "Be ready to bail if Hei needs to back up Ace. If you see this hatch close I'm going to have Hei move in."
Mar 25, 2015 4:27 pm
Spax's senses all on high alert as he leaps off Ace and sprints to Hei's awaiting hand settled on the ground. Once on Sofor's Defenser, the young man tries to focus as best he can on the mysterious runner piloting the old type-3' and it's unnerving advance on Gurrai. Looking over his shoulder, Spax stares longingly toward the city, I hope Gion's okay, Spax thinks to himself before snapping his attention back to the Maklugas and Darani's hails toward the runner inside.

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