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Post by Draco on Jan 22, 2010 1:03:15 GMT -5
<<Hospital Ruins>> As Draco rises in the air for his uppercut, he realizes something. Strife isn't there anymore. On the fall back down, he turns his head to see his enemies sword comes slashing at him. When the sword makes contact with him, a large rock is in it's place and Draco is crouched several feet from Strife. " I really need to work on my speed dash, and I doubt he'll fall for that again." He puts his kunai away and unsheaths his katana. Running his hand over the normal blade, it begins to let out a dark aura. He readies the sword in a stance, and dashes at Strife with it. ((Against Strife, the sword does nothing special except be able to withstand his sword. Normally being cut would make healing extremely hard, but with the Underdeep powers... No work ))971
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Post by Huntress on Jan 22, 2010 15:06:12 GMT -5
((Tabloid Town streets))
"Well, that's not suspicious," Bloody Mary said, staring at the Underdeep-demons surrounding the blarf on all sides except the Manor route. The blarf raised his head higher, prancing on spot like a frightened horse, then raised a paw with great care and squished one of the demons.
"Easy, you," Hunty muttered absently, scanning the sky. Ah, there he was. Safe, at least.
"I've ordered a planetwide evacuation, we'll be taking as many as possible out of here. First ships should be arriving in five minutes. Get your crew together, head out to sea or wherever you can find safety until then. I'll send one to pick you up. You can't take the blarf with you, he won't fit on most of the ships, and it'll be packed enough as is."
"Thought so." Hunty eyed the blarf with some concern. The kraken, in the meantime, flattened another demon in a puff of steam. There was probably still a way to come out on top in this. "Alright. Love you." The communicator landed back in one of her numerous pockets as the captain cast a quick look around.
"We have to break through to the harbor somehow," she said. "Rane?"
"Up here!"
Hunty looked up, blinking. Would you look at that, Amneiger and the dropship. And a rope ladder.
"I'd sortof like to point out right now," Bloody Mary said, "that there's a bunch of meepits at the ship I don't intend to leave behind."
Hunty nodded slowly. "I need to fetch my crossbow and a new quiver myself, and make sure that the ship is safe, and... eh. Okay. Well. All you guys, anyone who wants to get on that dropship, go ahead right now, it's not exactly an order but I highly recommend it, it'll be safer there. I'll catch up with you later. If you have anything you want from the Weewoo, you can either come along or tell me where to find it. Move it, we don't have much time." She turned around. "Rane, can you blast me a way through to the harbor?"
"Sure," said the pirate lord, his eyes brown and determined again, "but we'll need to sidetrack to pick up my crew." TMC had been pushed to the depths of his head again, pouty but rather docile. While Hunty was talking to Fraze, Rane had used the time to quickly convince the Horseman that he can't leave his crew behind unless he wants people to become suspicious.
Hunty nodded. "Off we go, then."
The blarf shook himself, sending up more puffs of steam where the fiery demons clung to his still-soggy fur, then bounced sideways through the gap that marked the road to the Manor and galloped off.
***
((Tabloid Town harbor, because I see no need to dwell on the boring travel-bits. Feel free to retcon any action in.))
Hunty wasn't entirely sure how she'd missed Rane's huge schooner earlier. Sure, it was docked half a mile down the harbor and only partly visible behind the curves of the coastline and a huge man-of-war. But its greenish black sides still glistened in the rays of the rising sun. Another night of no sleep, wonderful. With any luck she'd catch some shuteye on the trip to the moon.
Rane had managed to locate maybe a third of his crew and had disappeared in the direction of the Mast, so Hunty was now gemless. During their ride through the city, she'd seen that while the black patches were spreading steadily, they hadn't yet covered the entire town. There was a web of clear pathways between them, if you knew which road to pick, and the blarf seemed to be fairly good at sniffing the Underdeep out. But it was still only a matter of time.
Then again, now she had the crossbow.
Hunty marched off the ship, eyes blazing with dark glee, the crossbow slung over her shoulder with some difficulty. It was four feet long and somewhat unwieldy, closer to a siege weapon, but this was the best she got, and at this point 'best' meant 'with a laser sight, spikes across the bow and a semiautomatic firing system'. The meepits were clustered around her feet, chattering among themselves.
"Right," she said. "I'm done."
The remaining of Zylaa's weasels - which may or may not mean all of them, we've been kinda inconsistent about dragging them around, haven't we? - swarmed off the ship. It looked rather like the captain's grimly cheerful mood had affected them, so now they were all singing, with very little harmony but with a lot of enthusiasm, "...it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fiiiiiine!"
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Jan 22, 2010 16:12:21 GMT -5
Between the Ninja Dojo and Mage Manor Lupehunter did not need to be told twice to run, but he did not listen to Owen either. Instead, he transformed into his wolf form and ran as fast as he could. He never looked back to see the battle between the night monster and the other mage, but secretly, he hoped that the mage would be all right.
As soon as he arrived back at the Manor, he noticed that the ooze/mist hadn't touched the building, so he was relieved. However, he also noticed the dragon mage. Fearing that something was up with her, he ran into the nearest rosebush and hid, closely observing her before making his next move. From a distance, he could tell that she was possessed somehow.
"Darn, that's not good. I need to find some way to get rid of whatever is possessing her," he thought to himself.
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Post by Kiddo on Jan 22, 2010 20:25:11 GMT -5
Ninja Dojo
Kiddo charged blindly into the flames and stopped short when the lashed about her, digging her claws in and tearing up chunks of earth and let out a banshee shriek. She seemed to be fighting them, and as the dark magic grew closer her eyes grew brighter... and she seemed to be growing stronger. More menacing. It was as if the dark magic was feeding the form she had taken. She cast her gaze about wildly, crazed by the dark magic but blinded by the pain. Then with a start, she jumped back, shaking her head back and forth, and finally threw herself free from the fire, clawing furiously at the soil to get away, leaving deep claw marks behind.
Then she turned and stared at Aly. She seemed on the verge of saying something but turned and ran instead, towards the dojo.
That magic... it'd hurt! But it had also... she could be so strong with it... kill so many... Kiddo ran faster. Black ooze destroying this land, crazy mages with magic that threatened to destroy the human restraint the mind had on this body... and she STILL hadn't eaten in days.
Saving the world was too much work. At least she only had to help stem the tide of whatever had been released and hope that the owner of that blasted spear bothered to show up.
And maybe she could get herself a meal at some point... the subconscious part of her mind idly wondered what cats tasted like.
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Post by Fraze on Jan 23, 2010 0:21:23 GMT -5
((Spacefleet Hangar --> Near Tabloid Town Harbor)) Nameless was not in a particularly good mood. She had been forcibly woken up ten minutes ago, called to go on an emergency peacekeeping mission on the surface. By the time she was halfway to the hangar, running at a dead sprint, she found out that the orders had been changed, and that she would now have to be ready for war. She jogged in line with dozens of other troops, taking one piece of equipment at a time. Plasma rifle. Extra ammo. Armor. Assorted other supplies. The line led straight into a ship--or rather, it led to a whole row of ships on a conveyor belt. As soon as one was full, the hatch would close and it would take off, the conveyor belt would then move the next ship forward and troops would start filling up that one. It was a very efficient procedure. This was exactly the kind of situation you trained for, but that you never thought would happen. Nameless grabbed all of her supplies one at a time--slinging the plasma rifle over her shoulder, putting extra clips and grenades on her belt, slipping a comm onto one wrist and a portable energy shield onto the other. By the time she was about to get on the ship, all she had left was her armor. But just before she boarded, she heard a gruff voice call her name. "Hey, you! What's your name again?" "Uh--" she began. "Doesn't matter," Haggoth snapped. "Give this to the Subcommander on your ship. Tell him to give it to the Commander." She was given a small container of what looked like mercury. She recalled clearly what this was. "You got that?" he snapped. "Yes, sir." "Go!" Haggoth barked, as though she was mortally offending him with her presence. She ran back, cut in line, and boarded a ship. The armor she was given looked vaguely like two boots encased in a block of unidentifiable material. Put it down on the ground, step in, and the suit of armor formed around her. It squeezed in some places and was too loose in others, but the different plates would adjust to fit her over the next few minutes. ((Note: this is an older and less effective version of the armor Fraze is currently wearing.)) She barely had time to do this before the ship took off. She barely had time to register the departure before they arrived. That had to have been the shortest hyperspeed trip she had ever taken, and probably would ever take. A voice cut over the assorted nervous babble. "All right," it called out. Nameless recognized the person--an exceptionally tall, thin humanoid alien who had to bend slightly while standing in the dropship. Subcommander...Whozit, or something like that. "Here's the situation." Laconically, he explained the situation. Nameless was interested, but knew she shouldn't ask for details. A pilot and three others were to stay on the ship to ferry evacuees to Spacefleet. The rest of them would go to the surface, working on peacekeeping and disaster relief. She wasn't listed among the names to stay on the ship, so she would be going with the Subcommander. "Are there any questions?" Nameless gestured tentatively. Subcommander Whozit shot her a strange look--usually, when someone said "Are there any questions?" it meant "Let's all stop talking, right now." She handed him the small container. "Subcommander Haggoth wants you to give this to Commander Fraze." Whozit took the object, gave it a look, and nodded. Seconds later, they touched down. She and most of the rest of the crew filed out. It was very nearly daybreak now, which gave a feeling of either Being Up Way Too Late or Getting Up Way Too Early. This did not help Nameless's tiredness.
--------
(HeartbreakTabloid Hotel)) Ships. Spacefleet was coming. On the one hand, Merpo wasn't surprised. With something this big, they would have to come to the surface to do something. On the other hand, he never considered that this would happen. The memory of being kicked out of Spacefleet was still as fresh in his mind as ever, as was the last message they gave him--which, summarized, was "If we ever see you again, we will kill you." He thought. It had been two decades, no doubt the positions of power had changed since then. Probably most of the higher-ups wouldn't remember him, and might not even know who he was. But if they did, then he might be a dead man. But he would be a dead man here anyway, at the rate things were going. But wait. He had a bargaining position, didn't he? The Underdeep was acting up, and he had a method of protection against it. He could use this to his advantage. He would take a chance. He set off down the hill toward a team of 'Fleeters that had just disembarked from a ship. One of them, who looked like the leader, called to him. "Sir! Please go to the harbor and get on a ship. You will be taken to Spacefleet, you will be safe there." Ah, so that was what they were doing. He almost wanted to laugh at that message--to just about anyone in Tabloid Town, that would be true. But he felt he might be no safer in Spacefleet than he was here. Still. "A-actually, I have an off--proposition." The man blinked. "I'm sorry?" "I--I have a...method....of protecting a-against the Underdeep." He gestured nervously to the suit he was still wearing. "Bu-but I want something in...return..." The leader gave him an I-don't-have-time-for-this glare. "Walk with us," he said briskly, setting off once again. He was roughly two and a half heads taller than Merpo, who was just a bit below average height for a human male. "Assuming you're telling the truth. Who are you and what do you want?" "I w-was kick--removed from Spacefleet some...some time ago. I want a...ship...to take me ba-back home." "And you're saying that getup you're wearing can protect a person from the Underdeep, or what?" Merpo nodded. "All right. Next part of the 'Deep we run into, walk into it and show you're not affected. Then I'll take you to the Commander and we'll see." As they walked, various troops following this leader were pointing other people toward the harbor. Some were going, others were not so trustful. Common questions included "Why should we trust you?" "How can we know we'll be safe there?" and "I thought there wasn't any air in space, so how will we breathe?
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Post by Strife on Jan 23, 2010 4:34:26 GMT -5
((Tabloid Town Hospital))
Instead of slicing his target, Strife sliced a piece of rock that had cleverly been placed in his position. Knowing that his target would likely be behind him, he instinctively swung his body around and raised his sword. The distinctively epic sound of two swords clashing filled the air as Draco's blade hit Strife's.
In the background, Strife could catch the glimpse of Spacefleet vessels in the corner of his eye. It seemed like they had issued a Code Yellow - something they had never needed to do when he was still Commander. Oh well, he thought to himself. The issues of his guild were no longer his personal issues.
Strife jumped back and swung his massive blade in a horizontal arc in front of him, all while the Underdeep ooze engulfed the ground they were standing on. The Big Bad of the Underdeep messengers didn't plan on moving forward, so his opponent would either have to finish the job within the next few seconds, or run to a safe distance.
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Post by Jina on Jan 23, 2010 5:51:58 GMT -5
Tabloid Town Harbour Jina climbed out of the Weewoo, having just stocked up with as much chloroform as her cape could hold.
"...it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fiiiiiine!"
"Y'know, techincally speaking, it's not the end of the world. It's just the end of civilisation on the planet. I think. I mean, it's not like I know for a fact that the black probably-Underdeep-induced ooze isn't just going to blow up the planet. But it's a good guess. Probably."
Shut up Jina, you're rambling.
To a weasel.
"Can we find the ship now?"
Near Ninja Dojo Kiddo went into a mad rampage at the mention of going back to Mage Manor.
...I don't have time for this.
Aly attacked Kiddo, and Lupehunter turned into a wolf and ran off.
...And I really need to figure out what's going on here.
He set off after Lupehunter, but when he started to catch up he decided to drop the power and stay behind, since he realised that he might have been too quick to trust Lupehunter before now, and he wanted to see what happened.
They arrived back at the Manor, and Owen saw Celestial. Lupehunter jumped into a rosebush.
Alright, so. Can't attack her without figuring out who's side she's actually on. Pity, really.
Instead, he stepped out into her view. "Why hello there! Would you be able to show me these armies coming to attack you mentioned?"
Skies Over Brassport Patri looked back, and saw somebody flying after them. It appeared to be catching up. She sent off a lazy Blast in their general direction, then Formed some words in front of Sandra's eyes. Somebody is chasing us. Head back to the hospital.
Sandra adjusted her course, and also dived to a lower altitude to pick up some speed. Patri turned back to the person chasing.
Tabloid Town Ex-Hospital Halin and Corenu climbed a pile of rubble, allowing them to crawl out of the Underdeep. "I thought this was the hospital?"
Halin nodded. "It is. Someone blew it up. A bit over the top for my liking, but it works." He looked around, and noticed Strife. "Ah, there he is. And what do you know, he's in a fight. Drawing far too much attention to himself. We're operating on fear, you've got to be subtle."
"Before you go on a ramble, shouldn't we help him?"
"Nah, he got himself into that mess. He can sort it out. Tell you what, go back into the 'Deep for a while. Let's wait and see where this goes."
((And.. consider them inactive, for now.))
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Post by Draco on Jan 23, 2010 17:07:59 GMT -5
<<Hospital Ruins>>
The sword clashes hard against the man's larger blade. If the katana wasn't fused with the shadow magic, it would have shattered with the blow. Draco tries to hold himself in one spot, but he is slowly pushed away. He takes a step forward, pushing as hard as he can.
"I can't reach for any other tricks or weapons, I'm struggling just to hold him off."
He takes another step. Glancing down, he can see the ooze slowly surround him, any second ready to turn him to stone. With as much strength as he could use he pushes his sword forward enough to stop the thrusting of blades. He launches himself forward again, this time kicking Strife. When that foot lands he kicks off, and kicks again with the other foot. When he lands, he looks down. He landed in ooze. He can all ready see the bottom of his feet slowly turning to stone. He readies himself for one last attack.
((Self taught in the Saikyo-style))
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Post by Zylaa on Jan 23, 2010 17:29:22 GMT -5
((Tabloid Town Harbor))
Well.
That had been the most interesting blarf ride ever. Provided you defined "interesting" as "HOLY FRIGGIN COW I'M GONNA DIE."
Being a weasel, it had taken much longer for the lovely flashbang effects to wear off, but Zylaa quite preferred the semi-painful semi-consciousness of that to what was going on now.
Of course, at least people had stopped actively trying to kill them. She'd take mindless ooze over the dragon. And she'd take sticking with the crew over an early exit to the planet, since they tended to do well against overwhelming odds. At least, she had more faith in the crew than in Spacefleet, who had produced the two people responsible for this whole mess.
That's why Zylaa started humming along with the weasels. Humming, only, because could anyone sing the verses of that song off the top of their head? "Leonard Bernstein!" she mumbled hopefully at the appropriate point. I think there's something about jelly beans too?
"Y'know, techincally speaking, it's not the end of the world. It's just the end of civilisation on the planet. I think. I mean, it's not like I know for a fact that the black probably-Underdeep-induced ooze isn't just going to blow up the planet. But it's a good guess. Probably." Zylaa felt a deep need to point out the flaws in Jina's reasoning.
"The planet doesn't have to blow up to end, it's all turning to stone. Which is an end to life-- except maybe gargoyles. Or golems. Do the mages have those? I think they might." Zylaa shook herself, dismissing the information as irrelevant, although the more Genre-savvy part of her, which know full well what happened to seemingly irrelevant information, stored these thoughts away for later use.
The weasels had all survived. They were good at that. If anything got too scary, they'd just go to the nearest shiny place. But they were looking dispirited, no doubt for much the same reason as everyone else.
"No more shinies. Black is boring," said one.
Okay, maybe not the exact same reasons.
"Guys, climb on the blarf! We're going to Spacefleet!" They looked blank. "The shiny sky-place!"
"HOORAY!" they cheered as one, piling atop the Blarf so quick it looked like a blizzard had hit.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 23, 2010 18:11:15 GMT -5
((Outside Mage Manor))
Through the Underdeep, Celestial could see the battlefield. The blarfhad squished a few of the demons into the ground but it was no big loss. They were going back to the ship and furthermore, Spacefleet had decided to help them out? No, she needed them down here if anything in this world was going to go right...for her. The dragon mage put another hand on the ground and focused all her magic through it, calling upon the Underdeep to give her a boost.
You don't need to ask.
"Why hello there! Would you be able to show me these armies coming to attack you mentioned?" a voice called out. Celestial barely heard it but it meant trouble. This was one of the Brassportians, no doubt about it.
She felt the Underdeep flowing out of her mind, disguised by her large amount of hair. It ended up under her robes but did not lose the connection to the Underdeep beneath the ground.
Celestial turned around and looked at the direction from where the voice came from, her blue eyes assessing the situation.
"I'm sorry I told you all those lies. It is likely you won't believe me but the ooze that is spreading now was caused by the same thing that posessed me when I came your city. Now I'm free and trying to figure out what to ," she replied, distress clear in her voice.
The Underdeep reached a small tentacle into her mind which it could withdraw quickly. Once again her eyes turned to static and she concentrated on the magic in Tabloid Town.
((Tabloid Town))
Without warning, the demons went out. For a while, everything seemed quiet around the city. But that was only a brief moment.
Millions of tiny Underdeep entrances opened all around. The air around the dropship was swirled up into gusting winds which hit it repeatedly. Clouds formed above it at a terrifying speed, unleashing a storm onto Tabloid Town. Down from them came an enormous tornado. It touched down and began tearing through the harbour, aiming straight for the ship and all who didn't get out of the way quickly enough.
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Post by Nasuella on Jan 23, 2010 18:41:34 GMT -5
Angels of doom come calling, with no meeercyyyyy! Near hospital -> On dropship
It had happened very quickly--Hunty's words of support, telling her that things would be okay. Then fire demons seemed to come out of nowhere, surrounding the blarf. Then a Spacefleet ship had come over, begun to fire at the fire demons, and had dropped a ladder.
Nasue had leapt onto the ladder and begun climbing almost without thinking, but stopped when she realised that the captain hadn't said anything about it--oh, wait, she had. Go in if you want, she said.
"O-okay! I'll s-see you later, Captain!" With that, the coati climbed into the dropship. Once inside she leaned against a wall, groaning and rubbing her head.
Thank the gods for this ship...
She felt something, and froze.
Don't tell me it's gonna get worse.
Sure enough, it did. A sharp headache was her only warning before the winds outside the dropship began to strengthen. The world felt like it was beginning to move too much - too much movement, too much pain, too much magic. Too much Underdeep. Too much.
Something in her mind snapped. The coati shrieked loudly before collapsing to the floor in a heap, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.
"...too much... please let it end..."
--
Shot through the heart, and you're to blame! The creek (With apologies to Ikkin for godmoding Sev - I REALLY do not like godmoding. Keeping it restricted to Kov's point of view made it a bit less godmode-y, but still.)
It seemed to be a long wait for Kovaran. Sev had yet to speak, though he seemed to be concerned with something else. So, the big lizard let his attention drift to the creek and the sky, seeing the black of night fading into colour.
The bird suddenly tensed up. Kovaran looked around, and gasped.
The water... what?! Is it turning black?!
His thoughts were promptly interrupted - words were being spoken.
"...revive? Firebirds... don't revive?"
"No."
Seconds later, there was a blinding flash of light and heat.
[[NOTE: This post isn't finished yet!]]
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Post by Fraze on Jan 23, 2010 21:00:43 GMT -5
((Assorted places around Tabloid Town)) Fraze was doing his best to coordinate the evacuations while monitoring the areas that were hardest-hit.
A voice called Fraze over his comm. "Commander Fraze, below you!" He looked down, and saw a group of 'Fleeters making their way through the city, evacuating people as best they could. He dropped down until he was at eye level with the leader, Subcommander Whozit. He considered that this was the first time he had ever been at eye level with this particular Subcommander. "Sir, I was told to give this to you." He held out a small, clear container filled with something silvery. Fraze slipped it into the small pack he was wearing. "Thank you." He was about to fly off again, when-- "Uh, sir?" He stopped and turned back around. "This man claims to be a former Spacefleet scientist with a way of protecting oneself against the Underdeep." The man, who was wearing what looked like something midway between wire mesh and steel wool, seemed vaguely nervous and uncomfortable, as though he would prefer to run as fast as possible in the other direction rather than stand there. Something tickled Fraze's mind. He decided to take a stab in the dark--after all, there couldn't be that many ex-'Fleet scientists who would willingly live here. "Merpo?" he asked. The man flinched slightly. "Y-yes. Do you...know...of me?" "I know a bit." "Are you g-going to exec--kill me?" he asked, turning pale. "If my assumptions about you are right, maybe I should. So you're willing to give us this protection method you've developed?" "Y-yes, that's...right...but I wa-want a ship--ship home in...return..." That wouldn't be too hard to arrange. But Fraze knew that he currently had the superior bargaining position. Which meant he wouldn't agree to anything yet--depending on how much he knew about the Underdeep, he could be very helpful. "If you're telling the truth, and if you're helpful enough to us, then we'll see." He turned to Subcommander Whozit. "Have three of your men escort Scientist Merpo back to one of the ships. He is to be taken to the Spacefleet labs to instruct our scientists on how to create such protection. He is never to be without an armed escort." "Bu-but, sir!" Merpo started to take a step forward, but was held back. "You--the suit needs to be en-enchanted by a...mage...it's a comb--joining of--of magic and technology." "Consider it noted," Fraze said a bit snappishly. "Keep up the good work," he added to the Subcommander and troops, and flew off once again.
He felt a sudden turbulence. Had he not been held to the spacebike by forcefields, he probably would have been knocked off. "Sir," said a pilot who was particularly fast to the comm, "A sudden wind came up...a tornado." "I know, I felt it. Are any civilians in that area?" "A few. It looked as though another ship was trying to bring them aboard. But it's not one that was sent out here." Ah, Amnei's ship. "Can you continue in these conditions?" "O-of course, sir. These ships are designed to tolerate being in dense nebulas and the atmospheres of gas giants. A tornado is hardly noticeable." "Good, but don't get cocky." He broadcast the next message to all ships in the area, including Amneiger's. "This tornado is too much of a coincidence. Assume that this was somehow caused by the Underdeep, and take appropriate precautions." He continued, only sending the message to Amnei's ship now. "Do you need any help? If so, I'll send another ship to you. And what's your status?" ((Amnei--feel free to respond, but if you do need help, then just assume that a ship has been sent over rather than waiting for me to reply.))
After getting a response, he contacted Huntress. He was aware that she might already have gotten to the 'Fleet, meaning the short-range comm wouldn't reach her, but decided to try anyway. "Hey, are you still all right? I think I might have found a friend of yours, Merpo. If it's the guy I think it is, what can you tell me about him?"
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Post by Rider on Jan 23, 2010 23:11:48 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Tabloid Town Harbor[/glow]
"I sing this song much better when drunk," Rider said. "I rather this this whole situation would be better if I were drunk."
A pause. "Do you think the ship will sink if it turns to stone? Or will the Mist protect her?"
Turned to stone.... A fate Rider wouldn't wish on anyone. but she had allowed that to happen, hadn't she? To Schzain.
... It was strange. Several hours ago, that was her main quest, her driving force, her raison d'etre. Now it was very quickly dissolving into a side-quest, maybe some extra XP for the road in the face of what was happening to the planet. "Do you think the world will sink if it turns to stone?"
Shiva would be alright. He could easily outrun the black stuff. The Meepits, they would find refuge on their world. Rider wished she had a world to go to, well, one that she could get to without passing directly into the dark, betentacled eye of the beast.
While she internal monologued, or whatever the verb form of that word was, the waves started to bubble.
Something was swarming in the waters. A lot of somethings.
A million little fish, razor-sharp with teeth like knives materialized in the water. their image became clearer the longer Rider looked at them.
They were eying the ship. And they looked hungry.
[glow=red,2,300]Brassport[/glow]
Adeline continued to patiently wait for passengers.
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Post by Amneiger on Jan 24, 2010 2:38:29 GMT -5
Amneiger saw the Pirates leaving, and had just finished pulling up the rope ladder and closing the door when the Underdeep tornado started.
"We'll be fine, Commander, we have a lot of turbulance but all of our systems are coming up okay."
All right, what to do now? The obvious answer was to simply power through the winds and out into the open, but where to go from there?
In particular, what about the other people in Tabloid Town? If the Underdeep really was targeting things (getting a tornado right on top of them was clearly not an accident), then it might decide to go after them next before they could escape.
Unless it was already focused on something else.
"Okay," he said to the technicians flying the dropship. "Get us out of these winds, but don't go too far. We want to distract it from what's going on elsewhere. Try to fly as if something was broken. Stay close, but not too close, and go in a circle so that it won't move through areas that haven't been hit too hard yet." He switched the communicator back to Fraze. "Commander, we're going to see if we can keep the attention of whatever's targetting us. Don't send any other ships yet, it might think that it has a better chance of hurting us if we're alone."
The dropship flew out of the winds and headed towards an area that had already been destroyed by the black ooze. The technicians managed to get one of the engines to flicker on and off every few seconds, as if something had broken loose in it. Of course this was just a bit of trickery (the engine was perfectly fine and could go back to full power if needed), but it would look as if it was damaged.
With things momentarily calm, Amneiger finally looked around and noticed the coati-person on the ground. "Help me," he said to the third technicians, and they lifted her into a seat and fastened the seatbelt for her. "Are you all right?"
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Post by Strife on Jan 24, 2010 5:08:15 GMT -5
((Tabloid Town Hospital))
Draco broke away from the sword-clashing. Noticing the ooze crawling up beneath him, he tried his best to stay airborn by performing a series of aerial kicks against Strife's chestplate. There were loud clanks as the kicks made contact with his armor, but he was otherwise unfazed.
Draco landed on the ground with a small splash, and the ooze seemed to slowly crawl up his boots. Assuming he didn't have some kind of magical ability to break himself free, he was doomed, and Strife knew this.
Without taking any chances, Strife hopped backwards a few meters, raised his free hand, and willed a small column of stone to erupt from the ground in front of him. The angle and speed of the column was enough to push a fairly large glob of the Underdeep ooze into the air. It would splash into Draco's body like a water balloon in less than a second.
The wind around the hospital area began to pick up speed. Strife glanced into the distance and saw a tornado dip downwards from the sky. Too much of a coincidence to be natural, he figured.
Without sparing another moment, he left Draco to his fate and teleport-dashed away, leaving the usual silhouette trail behind him. Since his foes were now preoccupied with getting themselves off the planet, and since no one would clearly decide to join him, he determined that this was a good time to make himself comfortable. He'd need to construct himself a suitable base of operations.
The silhouette trail quickly snaked its way to the heart of Tabloid Town, which had already turned completely into stone.
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