Tuesday, December 3, 2069 - 3:00 PM Eastern
The antechamber would normally be the monitoring and power distribution center for Tesliem, but explosions have shaken loose tons of debris and some of the gigantic racks of computers have fallen over, spilling cards etched with what appears to be runes and glyphs instead of the electronics with which Jason is familiar. Ahead of them are two massive doors that read "QUINTESSENCE REFINERY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." Levers to left and right seem to be the manual release controls, which must be activated simultaneously.
The Diadem raiders ahead clearly believe that slaying the DoorBot constitutes authorization, as they prepare to enter, with Solanca reviewing the fight strategy. "All right, as soon as we pop the door open, we'll get seen by their elite guards. These guys are shielded, so DPS and tanks, attack one first to get a charge, then switch to the other guy, since they're immune to damage from people with the same charge they have. Stay away from people with the opposite color charge."
The brown-robed priest raises his hand, though it looks like he's suffering from lag, slowing him down to half speed. "What about us healers?"
Solanca shakes his head. "The charges won't affect your healing. But when you get a charge in the boss fight just after that, make sure you move to the same side as that terminal."
The bear named 'Small' and the unicorn-headed woman, Princess Heart, embrace and then she retires to her side, preparing her healing energies, a nimbus of light glowing at the tip of her horn and around her hands. He looks back to Jason and Inari, and Tracy and Cadena, then growls briefly.
Prepare yourselves, Cadena echoes, translating his speech. It appears that animals understand one another.
"Let me see your gun, Tracy. Maybe I can improve its efficiency and give you more shots per charge," Jason remarks and waves the gothgirl over.
A golden vixen, dressed in a black armored jumpsuit that seems practically underdressed compared to the elaborate fantasy armor of the raiders, takes up the hilt of her laser sword. Her thumb on the button causes the blade to extend, glowing a dull red. "I'd feel better," Inari confides to Jason, "If I had my rifle. I didn't think I'd need it!"
Tracer makes sure that Yappy is securely on the saddle behind her, and pats Fuseli's neck. "I hope we can neutralize the guards without killing them," she mutters.
"I would feel better if you had your rifle, too. Maybe we can recover something similar from someone inside," Jason suggests, though doesn't sound particularly optimistic about it.
White Cadena seems to have trouble following all the squad directions. "What happens if the opposite-charge elite guards get too close to each other?"
Yappy looks a bit woebegone. "This is a bit high level for me to be fighting, y'know?" he whines. "I've always thought of myself as a support character, really, not a hero."
"Maybe we should just have Yappy wait here. If we fall, he could go get help," Jason suggests.
"I might be able to catch them both in my Maze of Horrors," Tracer tells Solanca.
Ton Weigh, a hefty man dressed in red robes, says to Cadena dryly, "We could find out... They might explode and kill everyone nearby. Or, they might gain enormous powers and again, kill us all."
Inari brightens. "That's true. I saw some guards with guns a... Little while ago? A long time ago? Time flies when you're having fun."
Another raider adds, "I hear if you put them together, they gain a chain lightning attack."
White Cadena nods, not pushing that line of inquiry any further. Instead, he trots over to Tracer, looking expectantly up to her. "So that I am not distracted unduly, what is our primary objective, and how might I best assist?"
"Ans Tracy, I'm still waiting for your gun," Jason remarks dryly.
Solanca shakes his head to Tracy. "They seem to be protected against most 'distraction' abilities that we've tried in the past. I suppose they're 'elite' for a reason!"
"We have to shut down the power floor to main reactor, which I think requires taking out the terminals and balancer," Tracer notes, then looks at Jason.. and at her laser cannon. "You want my cannon? You've already got the one carried by your pet monster."
White Cadena ahems. "I believe Mr. Edwards merely wanted to look at your cannon to see how he might optimize its output."
"And apparently you're not listening again. I asked earlier to look at it to see if I could improve its efficiency and get you more shots for your charge," Jason remarks. "Now, if you prefer to stay as you are and risk dying, by all means. I won't force you to look into every possible survival option."
Pursing her lips for a moment, Tracer then unhooks the Gatling-laser from its mount and hands it down to Jason.
The remote-controlled supersoldier looms behind the rest of them, wordless, emotionless. It is a 20-foot tall monstrosity, a heavily armored humanoid shape that appears disconcertingly to have been stitched together in the places where the dull gray skin is exposed, and it carries an 'energy arquebus' - extremely powerful, but requiring ten seconds to recharge after every shot.
"Please be careful, that's a family heirloom you know," Tracer says.
RIU buzzes around behind Jason, then darts up to inspect the heavy laser weapon. Ooh, shiny thing!
"Although maybe Inari could use it.." the pale armored girl admits.
The laser gatling appears surprisingly lightweight, despite its size and bulk. Some unknown artificer has engraved blue swirls into the hilt, which wrap around each other in a Gordian knot of power.
"Thank you," Jason says as he takes the gun. He settles down on the floor, cross-legged, to look at it. "Lets look at the charge cycle and wire lengths," he mutters as he starts opening one of the panels to check the system. "Chained capacitors, most likely."
Inari eyes the gatling. "Too brutish for my tastes," she says.
"Maybe we can get Mark's bow for you then," Tracer remarks to the vixen.
"We'll see what kind of condition it's in after we're done with him, won't we?" Inari smirks. "I won't count my weapons until they're in my hand and ready to fire."
White Cadena watches Mr. Edwards at work, ears flicking, head cocking from one side to the other, showing signs of amazement at how effortlessly the electronics wizard modifies the device.
While Jason tinkers, Tracer guides Fuseli over towards the door so she can talk to Solanca. "I'd like to try an area attack before the tanks rush in," she says. "If it's successful, the guards will be neutralized before we attack them."
"I could always have RIU sit on your head and zot people every time you point at them and say 'bang'," Jason 'helpfully' offers Inari while he tinkers.
Solanca considers. "By all means. Father Camillo, can you have a heal targeted and ready for the Lady Tracer? She'll be drawing their initial shots."
"Why is it that people who design fantasy worlds always choose appearance over function? These lines are way too long, you're losing power due to capacitive and inductive effects on each other, effectively raising the impedance of the power transmission. That can be reduced," Jason mutters as he starts cutting wires and splicing them shorter. The bits are flung over his shoulder. "The sights, while ornate, are not aligned right, that needs to be fixed. And ... bah, these need to be aligned too, you're losing damage to wasted power. Come on folks, make sure lenses are aligned for proper focus. But, what should I expect from a woman with a squid fetish?"
"He's talking about my mother, not me," Tracer quickly notes.
Yappy raises an eyebrow. "Oh... kay..."
RIU licks the battery. zap! A fat blue spark crackles.
Inari peers interestedly at Jason's work, but shudders at the mention of the squid fetish. "I still have nightmares," she mutters.
It takes a while for the brown-robed priest to respond, but he finally nods and bows to Solanca. "If it is the will of the Light," he responds. "In Nomine Lux... Hear my prayers, and aid my friends!" His motions seem sluggish, as if he's moving through water.
White Cadena winces. "I would offer to focus on healing for Lady Tracer, but I have no ability to provide healing at range, and I cannot hope to keep up with Fuseli. Lady Tracer, I defer to your judgement on my primary role in this conflict. I could focus on an individual to provide healing and personal defense, or I could help to harry a target in close combat, but I am not a capable primary fighter."
"I still have the fantasies," Jason quips impishly to Inari. "A bit of warning," he adds as an aside, "While I am pilotting big ugly over there, I won't be able to do much. I'll have to stay out of range. And I'm serious about Yappy, if he wants to stay out here, that's fine. We don't have any weapons to give him. So unless he wants to hunt and track in there, he's probably just a target." He slaps the plate closed, then peers at it. Seemingly inspired by something, he scratches '+1' on the outer cover; probably some geek joke.
"I plan on attacking as soon as the doors are opened, Cadena," Tracer notes. "I won't be charging in to do it, I just need line of sight and range."
Jason gets up to his feet and offers the gun back to Tracy/Tracer. "I know how women can't stand to be separated from their mechanical toys /too/ long," he remarks.
"Maybe that's only when you are involved," Tracer quips back, as she remounts the weapon. "Thanks for the tune-up though Jason," she says, and blows a kiss towards his helmet.
The hitherto unnamed rogue comes up. "Oh, puppy here needs some equipment? I guess I can lend him something," he says with a grin. His mouth seems oddly out of sync with his voice. Perhaps it's an effect of the lag. He rummages through his pack and takes out weapons that are obviously far too large for the small bag. There's a giant surfboard-sized sword, a club sized for an ogre, with a skull on one side of the tip and spikes on the other side, a gleaming crystal bow with a string of energy...
White Cadena looks between Lady Tracer and Jason. "Should I start by your side, or by Mr. Edwards'?" Noting the large cluster of individuals by the door, he adds, "I sincerely hope these enemies do not specialize in area-effect attacks."
"Just remember, squeeze slowly. Jerking the trigger causes your aim to be off," Jason remarks. "Now, as for me ... I'll either pilot the monster, or ... well, be the sacrificial armored guy while you kill it."
Phosphemus, another mage like Ton Weigh but equipped with a shoulderpad on one side of his robes that blends into a half-helmet, peers at the rogue suspiciously. "Max, that looks like that guy's sword..."
The rogue replies, "Purely coincidental!"
"Stick with Jason," Tracer suggests to Cadena. "I've got defenses I can use."
"Is he housebroken?" Jason asks.
The brown-furred werewolf peers at the choices dubiously, then looks over at Jason and at Tracer. "I, um, I'll take the club, that doesn't look too complicated to use," he says, choosing the club. "Thanks, Mr. Max!"
White Cadena bows its head to Lady Tracer. "Very well then, my Lady. May the Light's Blessings be upon you for this glorious battle against the Darkness." The dog then trots over to Jason's side.
"Wise choice, my friend," the rogue says. "I've collected a few of these gimcracks over the years. Souvenirs, you might say. For me, my trustworthy Blades of the Wind will do me just fine."
Yappy grins and lolls his tongue. "Now if your looks draw too many fans," he confides. "I can beat them off with a stick!"
Inari grins at RIU as Jason suggests using it as a 'zapper'. "I think he'll be happier if you have him guard you," she says. "I'm going to join the fun next to Solanca, I think."
"Right. I'd ask you to be careful, but I know better," Jason teases Inari, then stretches a bit. "All of you, of course, realize we're about to die?"
Yappy eeps. "Wait, no, I didn't sign on for dying!"
"You always say that, Jason," Tracer notes.
"Of course I do. It's my job," Jason quips.
Solanca pulls a face. "All right, friends, we know what to do. If we die, it will be with glory, not shame that we did not dare to contend against the best the Empire has to offer. But we will triumph, have faith! Let's do this!"
"I only have faith in using overwhelming force, which we lack," Jason quips. "But in any event, shall we?"
As Solanca gives the signal, Ton Weigh and Phosphemus move to the levers on their side. The doors creak open to reveal the eerie red glow of the Refinery proper...
"For the Light!" White Cadena howls.
Before them, two guards in giant suits of powered armor, easily ten feet tall, turn with surprise. "Intruders!"
The enormous form of General Vilius Irongrip sneers. "Deal with them, my lieutenants! Nothing must interfere with our plans. A new world lies beyond this portal for us to conquer!"
As soon as the doors fly open, Fuseli lets out a horrifying nightmare shriek towards the two guards, as Tracer calls out, "Maze of Horrors!"
The spell washes across the guards... But weird red lines flash across their armored visors, absorbing it harmlessly. "Fools! We are fearless! We are the Emperor's First!" one yells. As they activate their shields, causing one to emanate a bloody red glow and the other to gleam with blue light, the other adds, "Surrender now and your death will be quick and painless."
"How unpoetic," Tracer mutters.
"Oh just shut up. I am tired of all the fantasy babble-de-gook. Oooh, ahh, you have a thesaurus, I'm quaking in my armored boots. I'll take a bigger gun, any day, thanks," Jason complains. His eyes narrow and he re-stablishes control of the super soldier behind them. Time to introduce the Negative guard to Mr. Happy Cannon (tm).
KaFWOOM! A giant ball of energy gathers at the tip of the arquebus. With experience, Jason has learned to compensate for the recoil, so it zooms straight across the room... And crashes into the shield surrounding the guard. Plasma splashes around him, leaving the guard apparently unharmed... But at the same time, red lightning streaks back against the same path, hitting the remote-controlled supersoldier.
The supersoldier now crackles with red lightning all over, giving it a menacing look. "RRRrr!"
The red guard laughs. "Behold! Your weapons are ineffective against us! Tremble in awe at the genius of the Empire's science!"
"Target the blue one next," Tracer suggests to Jason.
"Oh yeah, your momma trembles in awe at my magic!" yells Sir John, the armored knight as he runs in. Whatever Small growls must translate into much the same thing, for both guards turn immediately to the heavily armored (or furred) figures that have moved up to confront them. "Take that back, you lawless cur!" the blue-glowing one yells.
The raiders pour in with what looks like practiced ease for most... Unfortunately Max's lag problems seem to have resurfaced, for he is running against the wall again. Father Camillo, the brown-robed priest, seems frozen in place.
Yappy hefts his club as he clings to Fuseli's back behind Tracer, breathing hard... And he hasn't even had to hit anything yet.
Solanca yells as he runs in, "Fox! Take Max's side, over on the right! Switch targets after you've hit them! We need to bring them down at the same time, or they'll summon reinforcements."
"Who are you calling-- well, I am a fox, I suppose," Inari says with a smirk, moving across.
The General taps several oversized buttons -- buttons that would be out of reach for a normal person. What sane person designed a reactor that needed to be operated by a supersoldier? The guards ignite their energy pikes, preparing for melee combat as their opponents rush to confront them.
"You know, I wonder if I could get to and modify those terminals so that they all short out..." Jason wonders. "Forward, ho!" he declares and runs forward!
Immediately to the left of the raid is a large monitor that purports to track the status of the refinery. It claims, 'LEVIATHAN BLOOD TAP AT MAXIMUM - CONVERSION EFFICIENCY 100% - OUTPUT 50%'... But the output ticks upward to 51% as they watch. There are several banks of what look like Empire-style computers next to the refinery, and complicated looking regulators on the far right, on a platform that overlooks the energy beam being shot into the vortex.
The remote-controlled supersoldier waits patiently, tilting its gun to the side as it hums and rebuilds its energy.
White Cadena looks taken aback as the armored technician runs past, being focused just a moment ago on interfering with incoming blasts. The white dog is a bit late on the draw, and gives Lady Tracer an apologetic glance as it dashes by her, trailing behind Jason.
Engaged with their opponents for the moment, the guards aim what look like devastating blows against them. Small growls as he dodges one attack. The knight, Sir John, takes one straight to the chest and reels backward. "Medic!" he cries. But Father Camillo, the healer on his side, suddenly assumes a position of abject fear. "Oh no! The horrors! Save me!"
Solanca swears. "That's his autopilot! He thought it'd be funny to make it play him as a coward while he was logged out..."
"What is the new plan?" White Cadena barks urgently after Jason, sparing a glance to the wounded knight and then to the unresponsive healer.
Princess Heart, the unicorn-headed lady, turns her head worriedly. "Father Camillo! Your champion needs you!" she calls.
Max continues to run into a wall. "Guys? I think I'm lagging again," he complains. "Nothing I do seems to be working!"
"I'm going to try and short the system. I doubt my built-in weaponry would do much against them," Jason calls back. "Help the knight if you want. I think I'm safe for the moment!"
"Heart, take over for Camillo!" Tracer calls as she moves Fuseli out into melee range of the blue guard and drawing her saber, Regret.
"My pardon, Lady Tracer!" White Cadena barks out, still running into the chamber. "Mustn't Princess Heart focus on her charges? I can lend help to the knight, if it pleases you."
Ton Weigh conjures up his Augment staff; he and Phosphemus begin to throw spells at the guards. The other raid members launch their attacks, but the results are similar: whenever an attack lands, it seems as if it has no effect, but launches lightning back to encase their attackers in a corruscating corona of energy.
"Do what you can then, Cadenia!" Tracer says. "Don't wait for my instructions!"
The 'Reactor Output' creeps up ominously from 51% to 52%.
White Cadena changes course, making an all-out dash toward the wounded knight, but there's still so much ground yet to cover.
There's a clang as Tracer's saber strikes the guard's shield, (followed by another clang as Fuseli's horseshoes make contact).
As Tracer's attack and that of her warhorse bounce harmlessly off of his shield, causing them to acquire a blue lightning glow, the blue-glowing guard scoffs. "You may as well be hitting us with kittens!"
The General studies the glowing screen of his giant operator terminal, then moves a lever. The reactor output creeps up to 53%.
Jason's run slows as his attention shifts back to the super soldier. The gun raises and this time targets the blue guard instead of the red. "Two heads are not better than one," Jason mutters distractedly.
Max yells, "This is insane! I'm logging, guys." The rogue's expression shifts. "I'd better get out of here while the getting's good," he mutters, and then begins to drift toward a shadowy corner of the room.
KaFWOOM! The energy ball launches across the room and crashes into the blue-guard. "Surrender now and--" His denuciation is interrupted by a scream of anguish as the boiling hot plasma washes over him. "ARRGH!"
Inari backflips out of the way of the explosion, acrobatically! "Darkness!" she swears, breathing hard. "Watch where you're shooting, Jason!"
"It's not easy running two brains at once," Jason complains!
Sir John backpedals, eyes wild, as the ball of living energy smashes into the guard before him! "Father Camillo? I could use a little help here, any moment now!"
Miraculously, it looks like no one was injured, though the plasma backwash is uncomfortably hot. The guard however, is gravely injured, pieces of armor burned away to reveal a normal-sized human in a (formerly comfortably air-conditioned) cavity within the suit, breathing hard. "Little help here?" he calls to his comrade.
Fuseli snorts at the torn-open Imperial armor from where he jumped back. "Did you get any fur singed?" Tracer asks Yappy.
Yappy shakes his head. "Too close for my comfort! I thought we were goners," he says.
Solanca yells, "Friends, focus your damage on the red one! Reset your charges if you've got red, run out and back in." He turns to do the same.
"We're changing targets," Tracer says. "Yappy, give blue here a tap with your club so you can fight the red one too."
The blue-glowing soldier turns toward the supersoldier. "We've got a rogue supersoldier! Concentrate your fire on it!" he yells.
Small growls something incomprehensible to the raid as the red-glowing soldier turns. It sounds insulting.
"What did you say about the Emperor? Motherless furball!" yells the red-glowing soldier, renewing his attack against the bear.
The energy lance unleashes a narrow line of energy... That dies against the supersoldier's chest armor. "Our weapons are useless!" complains the blue-glowing soldier. "We need backup!"
The raid of Diadem heroes scrambles to change their charges. It looks like a hectic hodge-podge of people running back and forth.
Princess Heart lowers her horn to infuse Small with healing energies, renewing him against the merciless onslaught of the Elite Guard.
Inari, glowing in blue lightning, shakes her head as she recovers from her backflip.
White Cadena finally makes it over to the wounded knight, slowing to a trot, glowing brighter. "May the blessings of the Light fall upon you, binding together torn flesh and soothing your pain. May you be strengthened again, for we rely upon your strength, as a single shining chain, no one link of which is dispensable in our fight against the Darkness." Animated, silvery chains move forward to embrace Sir John's wounded form, bathing him in a soft glow.
Sir John raises his sword through the blue lightning charge that wreathes him. "The Light has smiled upon me!" He charges across the room. "Small, switch!"
The reactor output continues to increase ominously, now standing at 55%.
The blue-glowing elite armored guard shifts his stance and begins charging toward the supersoldier. Solanca cries out in surprise. "He's going after your pet!" he warns Jason. "Small, grab him!"
There is a confusion and bustling as the guard plows through the raid members changing their auras... Though this conveniently allows them to change their charges quickly. Blue lightning swathes a majority of the raid now.
"For the honor of the Empire!" yells the blue-glowing guard. "If I die, it will be with the Emperor's name on my lips!"
The red-glowing guard sneers. "Your attacks have no effect upon me, bear." He turns to select the next most likely opponent, his visor's attention sweeping across Inari even as Sir John runs forward to engage his attention.
The armored knight, now glowing with residual light from White Cadena's holy healing, shouts to the red-armored guard, "You call that a red glow? I say it looks rather light to me... I might even say... A SISSY PINK glow!"
"You fool! You dare insult the colors of the Empire? I will HAVE YOUR HEAD!" roars the red-glowing guard as he assaults Sir John.
"Let's go, Fuseli!" Tracer calls out, and the nightmare charges towards the Red (or Pink) guard. Tracer holds her saber out to strike as well!
As the Lady Tracer moves, the freshly blue-auraed raid joins in to focus their fire upon the more intact-looking guard. "For Tasavalta and the Light!" Solanca yells.
Alas, though the saber strike looks good, it appears to have done insufficient damage to get past the defenses of the guard. It leaves a nasty-looking gouge on his side.
The scruffy brown-furred wolf swings wildly with his club... But misses! Sir John yelps. "Hey, careful there, dog-face! Er, sorry, didn't mean that the way it sounded. Habit."
Fuseli lashes out, striking what looks like a less-armored spot. Sparks fly, and the red-armored guard glares at the horse.
The golden vixen slides into place at the back, taking advantage of the guard's distraction. She readies her laser sword... Then strikes!
The blade slashes right through the armor, causing noxious smoke to belch forth. "Argh! You enemies of the Empire shall not triumph!" yells the guard, turning around to try to locate his attacker.
The armored bear runs pell-mell after the blue-glowing guard, intent on stopping it from engaging the supersoldier!
"Small, the gun is about charged! When that thing fires at the blue ... you do not want to be near!" Jason shouts!
As the red-armored guard turns to face Inari however... She takes a pellet from her belt and throws it to the ground. Smoke envelopes her!
Sir John lashes at the red guard, drawing his attention back. "Pink! That's what I said, your momma dresses you funny!"
The raid begins to pour damage into the red-armored guard. Spells and weapons crash into his defenses.
The bear pauses at Jason's yell. "Grrf!" He takes up position in the doorway, being ready to engage it. As he stands there however, the red lightning that had surrounded him begins to drain away into the two metal poles that bracket the entrance.
Jason has to slow to a walk again as he focuses on the super soldier. "Right. Say hello to my leetle friend, eh?" Jason comments as he gets the super soldier to raise its cannon again.
The ball of fusion energy glows wildly on the energy arquebus as Jason takes sight... And cracks right into the blue-armored guard, even as he raises his arms, trying to shield himself from the strike! The hot plasma washes across him, eliciting a scream of agony.
The blue-armored guard goes down, raising the attention of the red-armored guard. "He's down! I've got to call for reinforcements!" he says. Solanca yells, "For the love of the Light, get him before it's too late!"
"I guess it isn't going to die with the Emperor's name on his lips. More like a scream," Jason mutters grimly.
The General's attention turns toward his erstwhile guards. "How disappointing," he rumbles, his voice loudspeaker-like. "But their might is as nothing compared to mine, the first supersoldier of the Empire."
White Cadena, hearing the call, makes a desperate dash across the distance, hurling himself at the red-glowing armor, tearing into wiring and machinery exposed by previous blows. "The Light shall prevail!" he howls as he throws himself into a clawed frenzy.
The blue lightning around Cadena crackles and pushes aside the red shield, allowing him to slip through and rake at one of the less-armored joints - the spot just behind one of its sabaton-like greaves. The red-glowing guard staggers. "Fools! Where one falls... More will come!"
Regret bites into the red armor, releasing a burst of purple sparks as a chunk is carved off. Fuseli kicks again, but his enchanted shoes slides off the armor this time!
The red-armored guard turns toward the wall where a bright friendly red button reads, "IN CASE OF ARMED INVASION, PRESS BUTTON."
It appears that whatever Tracer hit has damaged the shield generator that the red-armored guard carries. His field drops, leaving him exposed!
The supersoldier's arquebus charges with a distant, ethereal hum.
"RIU, light up the guard!" Jason orders his neck-dragon while he starts to rapidly fiddle with the western control terminal, looking for ways to access feed and power lines to the terminals ... and overload them if possible!
The tiny dragon's blue lightning cracks across the room - but unhappily, it appears that the armor is still sufficiently grounded as to protect its occupant! The minidragon sulks audibly in the air next to Jason.
Tracer makes another slash at the now-uncharged armor, sends sparks and metal flying!
To any ordinary player, the operator's terminal would be just so much gibberish laid atop schematics of the refinery and the reactor, but they are not Jason, who has spent weeks on an Imperial battleship studying its systems. As he flips through the tabs of the display, he gains the impression that the most obvious ways to stop this thing are to cut off the feed of blood from the Leviathan, to overload the refinery sphere, which might cause it to explode and necessitate a hasty escape, or to meddle with the regulator, where positive and negative quintessence are combined to form a beam of energy, causing the mechanism to overload, and very likely explode. Most of the options involve something exploding.
Fuseli rears up... And some divine inspiration must have struck because in that second, shadow-flames leaps up from its eyes and hooves. Its barding elongates, forming articulated armor that sweeps up over its skeletal wings, forming sheets of flame between the pinions. It whinnies and then brings both front hooves down upon its target, the midsection of the red-armored guard, causing cracks to spread across his armor...
And then his wings sweep forward, flooding the interior of the sundered armor with living flame. "AAAHHH!" yells the guard, stopped in mid-motion.
The horse whinnies and stamps, scattering the remains of the elite guard!
"Awesome! Great finishing move!" yells one of the raiders. "Brace yourselves," Solanca warns. "Now the General will enter the fight!"
"Extra sugar cubes for you tonight," Tracer says, as if in a daze as she pats the side of Fuseli's neck.
"So who here wants to explode?" Jason calls back from where he works on the terminal. "We even have options for how we explode!"
General Vilius Irongrip (giant version) turns and cracks his knuckles, then lifts the helm for his armor from the table next to him. "Do you think you have won, heroes? You have won merely the right to die against the Empire's greatest soldier," he scoffs as he dons it, causing his face to be hidden away behind its dark mirrored visor.
"Does one of them involve destroying that energy beam?" Tracer asks, then blinks. "Uh.. come to think of it, we probably need to follow the beam's path to get out of here to the next platform."
The blue charges surrounding the raiders flickers and dies away. However, the regulator hums and goes into energetic activity, with two large tesla coil-like devices on both sides taking on red and blue-colored lightning.
White Cadena lingers for a moment over the charred remains, then snaps its attention toward the new opponent. "Lady Tracer, this being looks somewhat like the General from the recountings of Mr. Edwards's Avatar. Is there some sort of connection?"
Jason's focus switches to looking at the regulator controls, trying to figure out how long he could rig a timer on it before everything just explodes. There's a pause in his work, though, to see if he can get MeatMan to lumber into the chamber to help fight the other super soldier.
"It's certainly a Vilius Irongrip," Tracer notes to Cadena. "But I don't know if it's the one from before or a freshly generated version."
Solanca barks orders. "Everyone, get in position! Spread out, and stay with people of your charge." He glances over where Father Camillo and Max have gone, then looks to the white dog. "I hate to ask this of you, Cadena, but if you could assist Sir John... His healer seems to have fled in the heat of battle."
After sparing a quick glance to Lady Tracer, White Cadena gives a bow of his head to the raid leader. "I shall do my best to assist Sir John."
The General peers across at the supersoldier. "Soldier! Fall in and assist me in executing this rabble!" he orders.
"Yappy, you might want to get off," Tracer tells her saddle-mate. "This is going to be really nasty."
The brown-furred werewolf gulps. "Yeah, he looks... pretty big!"
Yappy slides off of Fuseli, though he keeps his club handy and looks around for potential attackers.
"General Vilius Irongrip!" White Cadena cries out, "Do not forget the time when you joined forces with Lady Holly of House Trudeau! I serve her daughter now, and we fight against an evil greater than this universe. If you continue this path, you will betray your Empire to outside forces seeking to drain its power for their own gain! This energy goes not to your Empire's glory, nor even for conquest, but to those who would destroy worlds for its own sake!"
General Irongrip draws his energy arquebus as the raid runs up toward him. He pauses as White Cadena yells, though the visor hides his expression. "Impudent cur! Who is this Lady Holly of whom you speak? If her daughter is the Lady Tracer, you serve a thorn in the side of the Empire, and I should kill you first!"
"Okay, he's raised his weapon, time to pull out the stops," Tracy whispers to Fuseli, as she sets him to gallop.
Taking advantage of the General's evident confusion, the raid moves up toward his position, where they can spread out around him.
White Cadena rushes to keep up with Sir John. "Do not discount the Lady Holly of Trudeau! She is quite possibly the greatest sorceress of two worlds, chief arcanist of the Ozymandias! It was she who conjured the mighty B-F-G! It was she who conjured a frankfurter sandwich the size of an Imperial battleship in the middle of Tasavalta in the middle of the great infernal conflagration! It was she ..." The dog continues to list off all of her many accomplishments, as picked up (perhaps with some modification in the translation) from RIU and in bits and pieces from others.
"You are a worthy minion of the House Trudeau," says the General with a laugh. "I shall grant you the signal privilege of dying first, in the name of your so-called Lady Holly."
"Looks like to blow this place safely I have to go between the electrical terminals," Jason complains, "What about my safety? Oh well! He draws away from the west terminal and heads south, trying to keep a large arc (and thus behind everyone else!).
"Look out! Heart, shield Cadena!" yells Solanca as he runs in toward the General. The unicorn-headed princess is quick to react, summoning up light and then gesturing toward the white dog.
The General's energy arquebus fires! The ball of plasma launches toward Cadena, bringing with it the promise of extra-crispy dog...
"I wasn't FINISHED with my MONOLOGUE YET!" White Cadena barks, as he leaps to the side.
But as soon as the General fires, another plasma ball sings through the air - in his direction! With amazing accuracy, it strikes the General's arquebus, causing it to explode in a gout of flame. He screams. "ARRGH! BETRAYAL!"
As the smoke clears, it reveals a charred supersoldier General, bits of armor blown away from his right-side arm which seems to have taken the brunt of the damage. "You fool! You will regret the day that you turned your back against the Empire," he roars, reaching to his back to draw forth a giant version of the energy pikes that his elite guards carried.
"Serves you right for shooting at my dog!" Tracy yells at the general, and charges forward.
And just at that moment, red and blue lightning crackle around the terminals, then reach out and strike everyone!
"Yeah yeah, I'm such a scourge to the empire," Jason mutters as he heads south.
Orbs of red lightning form around Tracy and her nightmare, and around Cadena and Yappy. Blue lightning surrounds Jason and RIU, even around Inari's shadowy form, and washes over the remote-controlled supersoldier's frame.
As the raiders acquire differently colored charges, they yelp and start trying to get away from those of the opposite color charges. "Red, go left, blue, go right!" yells Solanca. "No, not your left! His left!"
And both red and blue lightning crash into the General himself, energizing his body! "The EMPIRE shall grant me the strength to CRUSH you, rebel!"
Electric potential builds up in the air between Yappy, Jason, and RIU.
"The empire grants you such a fashion statement, sailor!" Jason calls out to the General ... right before backpedaling away from Yappy!
Saying nothing, the remote controlled supersoldier stands in place as his arquebus hums, recharging.
"Speed of Darkness," Tracer whispers to Fuseli, as they both take on a slightly blurry appearance.
The raiders rally to try to get the General under control. "Small, I'll take him first," Sir John calls out. "Cadena, was it? Can you shield me? This guy's going to hurt!"
White Cadena rushes after Sir John, trying to keep up, but with the sudden stampede of warriors of the Light, he has to turn this way and that not to inadvertently trip up anyone. It also hardly helps that he has to keep on rattling off Holly's accomplishments, lest any be overlooked. "... and there was the time she conjured giant pinwheels to stabilize the Ozymandias as Lord Jason Drachehand and the mighty Captain Cranston guided it through the maelstrom of the aether! ..."
And while she has a clear shot, Tracer says, "Glimpse of the Abyss!" Fuseli rears up and stamps the ground, sending a fan of burning cracks towards the General.
The General, alas, appears almost contemptuous as he steps over the cracks. "Tiny pests! Begone, I have more important matters with which to deal."
"Even pests can sting," Tracer notes, and brings the laser to bear before squeezing off a 3-shot burst.
The laser gatling +1 rakes across the exposed arcane circuitry, causing it to throw up red sparks! The General growls, turning his gaze toward the little scion of House Trudeau and her irritating little nightmare...
"Cloak of Shadows," Tracer says to Fuseli.. and suddenly there are multiple Tracers and Fuselis to choose from.
"The internal damage must be worst than I thought," the General growls to himself. "I'm seeing double..."
"I've been told my presence can be intoxicating," the Tracers tease the General.
"I would call it nauseating," Jason remarks.
White Cadena pants, jogging up to Sir John, finally catching up as the knight reaches a corner of the complex. "May the Light bind you and protect you against the Darkness!" the dog barks. The blue patterns on the dog's face writhe, and the silvery chains lengthen and separate. Loops of shining chains now orbit Sir John, spinning in orbits around him that shift and curve to avoid interfering with his movements, and to intercept enemy blows and blasts.
Sir John, emboldened by the glow of the chains which have sprouted around him, yells to the General, "Your momma's so fat the Emperor mistook her for a Leviathan and they're trying to find a vein!" The General turns around in a rage. "You take that back! NO one speaks of my mother in that fashion!"
The General turns and strikes at the pest who dared to insult his mother! Sir John's chains reach out and lash at the incoming energy pike, slowing it, but even so, the armored knight grunts as it finally crashes into his shield. He appears unharmed.
"Sir John, Cadena, be ready to dodge!" Jason shouts as he returns focus on his zombie-soldier, trying to aim for roughly the General's chest and head area. "RIU, zap him too!" he adds to the order, before completely focusing on MeatMan's controls.
The remote-control supersoldier remorselessly discharges its arquebus... And another staggering burst of energy slams into the General! His high-pitched scream shakes the glass of the observation window as more armor is blown off of his body. What is left is a 20 feet tall skeleton of metal, covered with gruesomely pulsing veins of some black rubbery substance, armored here and there with tougher pieces that managed to survive the impact, so he looks somewhat like a giant skeleton. He appears ready to collapse, clinging to life with brutal tenacity. "I-i-impossible!"
The follow-up tiny bolt of blue electricity from RIU by comparison seems a little lacking. The dragon looks up to Jason as if to confirm, "I helped, right?"
"You always help," Jason tells the little dragon and even reaches up to pat him with an armored hand. "And come on! Die already!"
"Final phase!" yells Solanca. "He's going to trigger a refinery meltdown! Pour it on!"
White Cadena looks confused. "Refinery meltdown? Won't that be counter to the objectives of ...?" But he lets that question fall short, as the only person immediately nearby to answer him would be Sir John at the moment.
"No... No, you have not reckoned with all of my resources," the General's voice says from the recesses of his metal skull, the destruction causing it to rattle and click. "Huntsman! Serve the Empire, destroy the intruders!"
Sir John looks perplexed. "Wait, that's not in the script..." he says, loud enough for Cadena to make it out.
"Ohhh, crap," Tracy mutters as she hears the summoning.
"It's another Super Soldier!" White Cadena warns Sir John. "He's another ... another ... protagonist? No, that's not the word. He's actively meddling to try to help the enemy! He voluntarily put his brain in one of those things!"
A whine of servomotors accompanies another supersoldier emerging from behind the refinery sphere. It looks identical to the first one.
Solanca looks startled. "What the... Finish the General off, then engage the new one!" he calls out to his raiders.
Tracer's next words are filtered out by the universe when see sees who the new super soldier is carrying on its shoulder, complete with enchanted crossbow. "MARK! You idiot," she finally declares.
"Me? I'm the one with a giant robot under my command," the thin, far off voice responds. "I don't suppose you'd care to surrender now and make this easy on everyone?"
As Mark speaks, on the shoulder of his giant robot, he sends it striding forward, its own energy arquebus turning toward the swarm of tiny (from its point of view) heroes assaulting the General. "You don't care about these silly little heroes trying to finish this encounter, do you?" he asks. "What if I were to, oh, pop a few of them?"
RIU eeps and darts protectively in front of Jason! Yappy, looking around, tries to take shelter behind the fallen Elite Guard.
Tracer grits her teeth, and turns Fuseli towards the new threat. "Why are you risking your life like this, anyway?" she calls to Mark. "What has Sasha got over you that you'd throw away everything? This can't just be about our breakup!"
While Tracer talks, Fuseli and their clones move to get between the heroes and Mark.
As Tracy and the new supersoldier's pilot exchange words, the raid moves up to engage the General, trying to take him down before he can activate the refinery's overload mechanism. "Push! Give it everything you've got!"
Mark pats his supersoldier on the shoulder. Even though logically it shouldn't even feel anything beneath that armor, it emits an odd purring noise. "That's a good girl," he says. "As for me, risking my life? Well, first of all, you're worth a lot of money. It'd really do me a lot of good to collect on you. Second, you're my girlfriend, you don't get to decide on your own it's over. So all I'm doing is teaching you who's in charge. And thirdly..."
He drops down from its shoulder, landing, then sweeps his cloak around himself... And vanishes from sight. It must be some kind of invisibility cloak!
"You raise a good point," his voice says from thin air. "Why should I risk my life? That's what Bella is for. Go get 'em, girl!"
The supersoldier-- outwardly as neuter in appearance as the rest-- charges forth with a wild snarl!
"Your new girl still has to get through me first you know," Tracer claims. "Going to let it trample me?"
The General, bracing himself with his energy pike, yells. "This is the General speaking! Reactor controls, voice override. Codeword, Samson..."
"Pour everything you've got into it!" exhorts Solanca as he stabs away, his rapiers tracing elaborate flourishing patterns in the air.
"RIU, blast the general! You can do it!" Jason encourages the little dragon. And Jason himself joins in, raising his own hands and firing of the directional Tesla discharge system!
"General!" White Cadena cries out, in disbelief. "Maybe you're 'supposed' to do this, but there are consequences! That energy is flowing into the other world! Your people are there! You can't overload the reactor - the results would be catastrophic for everyone - your Empire included!"
The General, unbelievably, pauses at Cadena's word... Just as lightning bolts stab at him from Jason and RIU's direction.
And in that moment of hesitation, he fries.
The armored skeleton grinds to a halt, emitting faint red and blue sparks.
A fox-shaped shimmer in the air continues to move on past the General's smoking body, toward the main operator terminal.
"No ... no ... I'm in control! What are you doing?!" White Cadena cries out. "This is stupid! He's a villain! It isn't your turn! The Spark does not approve!" His body glows brighter, along with his chains.
"Chains of Suspension!" the glowing dog and chains cry out, as they wrap around the smoking skull of the fallen General.
Ton Weigh raises his eyebrow, looking toward Cadena. Small remains focused upon the most obvious threat, as does Sir John, both moving forward to get Bella's attention, but Princess Heart spares a look for the white dog as well, worried for his sake.
"For the love of everything, don't be an idiot!" Jason yells at Cadena. "He would show you no compassion, do not show him any! We have enough problems to still deal with, we don't need him attacking us again!"
The glowing form coalesces, as the giant skull of the General cracks open. When the light clears away to a less blinding level, there is a humanoid canine form in flowing white robes, with a staff in one hand, and a small 1-foot-diameter armored sphere under one arm. "There is another thing you must know about Lady Holly of House Trudeau, General. It is she who gave me my chance to live again, and it is for her sake that I will not allow you to die in this senseless game."