Sutoratosu

She looked at the fleshbag with a profond air of disinterest, turning her attention to the... thing standing beside. Cold, dead, emotionless. Well... scratch dead. It was a golem afterall; A golem unlike most any she had seen before, with how closely it resembled it's maker's race down to the slightest detail, but a golem nonetheless. The thing had never been biologically alive to begin with. And with the perpetual expression of deadpan on it's face, Aurora doubted it had any soul to speak of, either. "And what of that construct beside you? Does it have a name? Does it always look so dead inside?"

And it was over. Just like that. He didn't bother acknowledging the bit about the kid; he wasn't gonna make any promises- if the bugger kept doing stupid and desperate shit in the arena like that, the only one who was responsible for whatever happens is himself. This Arcturus though... so just what the hell was this guy anyway, if he apparently was able to just pull the power to wipe memories out of his ass and already had others at his disposle? A fucking wizard? What, was his actual first name Harry, last name Potter? Come on now, like he was gonna believe that fairytale stuff- well wait... shit... there was the stuff that Tesla had told him about that "Watcher" creeper from when she had been a kid. Hell, maybe all this wasn't so far fetched after all...if the dude was anything like the man she had described back then though... "You got this covered, right?" "Naturally. Not like you'll be able to do much more besides just stand there and talk to the guy for however long he allows before erasing the encounter." "Well, I guess that just leaves one more thing then..." with that said, he turned back to the Diviner and the two girls, seeing them already busy discussing the changes they wanted to make to their mechs. Whatever, he could wait. Hell, it just gave him more time to reveal the tweaks and edits that were needed before he committed to the final product.

"An AI, huh? I could probably hammer one out pretty easily, if we just had a computer terminal or something around here with decent processing power..." Which got her thinking... there were also things that an actual terminal would come in very handy for. Altering her mech had... always been a bit easier for her than others it seemed- she didn't really need the divination system to put something into place, just needed the plans and schematics she always had a habit of drafting in her head, focus on applying them to the Mech, how everything would go together, how it would alter the function. And well, it just kinda... clicked into place she guessed, if she could hold a strong enough idea of how the new components worked and how they'd factor into the design... it tended to stick. Probably just yet another result of the shit they'd done to her head when she was little, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. "Still, I guess that's pretty good for a baseline at least. If they can already follow a more complex command string, it just means it'll be less work to build something off of later." she glanced at the nearest ant, going about it's work with a special type of diligence all to appropriate for the species it was based upon. Tesla couldn't help but crack a smile, half in amazement, half out of anticipation of the idea of tinkering with the literal buggers "You mentioned upgrades though, right? so uh... what can they already do, what type of equipment did you guys set them up with?"

"Curiosity killed the Weretiger you know... or some such like that," the golden thread reeled itself back into wherever the Spider had drawn it from, vanishing from the world instantly as she released her hold on the Arachania. The eyes kept their focus on Walmond though, and the being by his side... "I don't remember seeing your face among the other fleshbags earlier, and your scent is foreign as well... Who are you, outworlder? Yet another fleshie who got dragged into things without even knowing it?"

"Unless you intend to try and use those blades," A woman's voice called out from the shadowed corner before Walmond could take so much as another step, smooth and even as an summer's breeze, almost melodic in her pitch. The almost pleasant quality of her voice did nothing to veil the warning it carried however "You'd best order your Golem to put them back where they belong and stand down, Human." A golden line of thread was the only thing that lit up the dim corner, besides the glowing pair of emerald eyes peering out at him. The only reason she'd not used it and sealed both of duo on the spot was the obvious fact that the man looked nothing at all like the flesh bags manning the fortress, nor smelled like them. Another Outworlder, from her guess...

"Look, I don't know man. I'm just a tinkerer, ok? I don't mess with that type of stuff" She shook her head, becoming just a little annoyed at the rather odd questions the man kept asking. First Fungi, then some scientist dude who was apparently either real good at hiding, or so unnoticeable she walked right past him, and now archaic writing instruments? "You should ask one of the others inside to help you. Whatever you want with all this stuff, I'm pretty sure its not in my wheelhouse. There's not much I can do about that." With that said, she turned and walked into the bay, the Waddle door following behind and waving farewell to mot as he passed. Tesla had taken out her void sphere and began examining the inventory again when she stopped dead in her tracks upon reaching the main room... and just staring. Ants. Mechanical Ants. Everywhere. And those two standing amongst the middle, the green old dude talking to them and looking like he was giving them orders... "Uhhhhhh...." Tesla stammered. She... didn't really know what to think. These two... they'd made all these things in the time she'd been looking around the place? Gods... "So.... I see you guys have been... busy?" She just couldn't keep her eyes from drifting back to the small horde of ants assembled in the place. The waddle doo meanwhile waved in friendly greeting to the android and the orc, looking like he hadn't a care in the world.

"Who the hell is Reese? And uh... no. I don't." Actually she stopped and thought about for a moment, Void moss was weird and all, but... no, no wait... Moss actually was a plant. "yeh, no fungus. Sorry. Now what's this about some scientist dude in the barracks? Cause that was the first place I checked, and I didn't see anyone...unless he was hiding or something..."

"I meant after the.... oh forget it." Tesla sighed. Much to her surprise, the Waddle Door seemed to mimic the gesture... she put it off for now though, there would be time to look into the thing later "so I'm guessing that it's no, you haven't seen anyone besides me since the crash just now. Figures. Look, there are a few more of us in the Engineering Bay; since this search is looking to be pointless, I'm heading back there. You should come with me, we're gonna need to figure what to do about all this..."

With the cannons completed, Tesla had taken to searching the other sectors of the old fort to try any sign that at least someone in the damn place hadn't mysteriously up and gone. Hell, all they did was crash, and the place was fully intact more or less... why is so difficult to find anyone besides the Green dude and the android? She had checked the barracks first, of course, no dice. Then a few other ares- namely the throne room, the grandhall, the entrance way... she had made the thought as a joke at the start of her search, but... in all honesty she really was almost convinced that they'd somehow landed back in tempest and some spatial fuckery had warped most of the crew out. A quick look at the gates though, put that idea to rest. Wherever the hell they were, it wasn't the Planes... "Geez, who the hell was even piloting when we hit?" she muttered as she walked away from the entry point, noting the barrier of... some type of energy that had been erected there- she figured this must've been what the orc had mentioned. "Guess they up and vanished too... screw it, this is gonna take way too long on my own... do I got anything to speed this up" The interface of the Void sphere lit her mind up the instant her hand touched out, various bits of data listed beside all the entries for the object in storage. Maneuvering through the inventory with a few thoughts, she slowly scanned until... there it was. Those weird little trophy things those blobs in tempest had dropped; she'd felt something odd when she'd picked them up... almost like they were calling to her somehow, not unlike how one might summon their mech from their dreamspace... but... no, it couldn't be, could it? Would the process even work on them? Shrugging and shoulders and not really able to think of what she might have to lose, she selected one of the strange objects and held out her hand, watching as the device removed it's data from the inventory and materialized the thing in her hands. She examined it with mirthless curiosity... before mentally reaching out and connecting with the stand when she next felt it's impulse, using her favor and will to establish a firm grasp and guide whatever the hell was on the other end of the link out into the world before her. Just like she thought, it really hadn't been much different from the feeling of summoning a mech... she just had to reach outwards rather than inwards. And oddly enough, on some base level it seemed almost like... instinct to her. What met the woman once the process was done was a brief flash of light as the trophy vanished, and it's place, one of the very same invasive creatures they had slaughtered so many of back in Wrath. The little blob looked up at her with it's single, massive eye and gave a wave in greeting, as he and Tesla were just two neighbors going about their daily routine, rather than enemies. Tesla replied with silence. Eventually the Waddle Doo stopped waving. "So... I guess that's what they do?" in all honesty, she wondered what would happen if she just took out all the other ones in her possesion and smashed them to bits on the ground in front of her- maybe that would've yielded a different result than performing a mock-summons had. That would just be a waste of potential resources though, and besides, the thing didn't seem hostile. "Well... I guess you're... kinda cute. In a weird, almost offputting way..." The waddle doo kept staring. "well... do you things talk? or blink, or... how do you communicate, whats the deal there?" The waddle doo simply shrugged in confusion. She couldn't tell whether he legitimately didn't know, or didn't even understand her to begin with. "Uh-huh... okay then, real helpful." Before she could say much more though, something seemed to catch the creatures attention, given it waddled off, promptly waving at another figure, one riding from room to room on... a motorcycle of all things. Screw it, he was the first person Tesla had seen so far outside of the engine bay. "Hey, you! You see anyone else around here? the damn place is like a ghost town..."

Surprised that the woman was actually still standing, Maya made her way over to Serene, hands glowing with divine energy. With a few motions of her fingers- as if sewing a patch of cloth -the axe wounds the mage sustained were overtaken by countless strands of light, stiching her flesh back together as if the wounds had never occurred at all. fading away to reveal healthy tissue. Her attention hardly seemed to be on the job at hand though, as she looked off in the distance towards where the bow knight had fled "That girl who shot at you... she didn't really seem to know what she was doing, did she?" J13, Heal Serene (Benevolence procs)

"Pale.... green eyes..." He shook his head as the vision passed, rubbing his temple with one hand "and... those blooms... the way they flared... spells, maybe, or cannons more likely... or hell, maybe a mix a both..." he thought back to the snippets of conversation he had overheard in the day or so prior, back in the tavern before the Nogu fellow had lost his shit and went on a paranoid tirade. "heh, maybe that talk about Rune Cannon ain't such a rumor after all... I just hope for their sake that it is. If those two were actually right....well, it would be a small wonder as to why the city fell so quickly." He got up from his spot, leaving his lance and his wyvern where they lay as he paced in thought, hand stroking his chin "Pale Green eyes though. Thats what they put the most emphasis on...and they were pretty striking regardless. Belonging to an enemy commander, maybe? or perhaps someone who's holding out somewhere in, eh either way, It would be easy enough to recognize them I suppose... guess we'll see then." with that said, he turned his attention back to the elders "Aight, I figure this is about the most you're gonna give me about this... well, its better than nothing, the suspicious flashes of color at least could prove useful... so I'm done bugging ya about it. Thanks." he walked along the railing for a bit, staring out over the rapids. Every so often yet another bit of wreckage floated by... there was one thing that struck him as odd though- where were the bodies? Surely at least a few crewman had gone down with all these wrecks, yet he hadn't seen so much as a single man floating down with the remains of their vessels... yeh sure, some of them may have escaped, survived and swum to shore to either flee or try to regroup... some might've just been captured... but... but the damn whistling from the crows nest was really starting to become an Ear-sore. He was no music critic, but by the Lunar Father and all the ancient ones, that damn Archer from last night had a voice like shattered glass and rusted nails as far as he cared. "Oi, ya sound awfully cheery up there mate. You uh, you mind just humming that mess to yourself instead of aloud though? No offense but you're no opera singer... or even a common street performer, really" Erce grumbled an affirmative on that point, looking disdainfully up at the archer. She was honestly at least half hoping he'd have something small and nasty fly into his mouth up there and gag in the middle of his tune

Erce lay curled around her rider in the center of the deck, her weight making the boards beneath her creak with every slight movement but otherwise they seemed to be holding up well enough. Marek had to give the shipyards credit- they certainly made decent cargo vessels, considering the body of water they were nearest to. Not just any river boat could take a full grown river and a load of passengers and the lunar father knows what else, and still keep steaming ahead at full speed. But steaming ahead into what, exactly? It had been three days afterall... of course, a seige could go on for much longer, depending on how well prepared and how determined both sides were, but well... managing to hold on to the walls of a city and keep a foreign army out was one thing Failing to do that and being forced to fall back to the royal palace however, was an entirely different one. On the brightside though, at the very least any reprecushions for standing up to leofric and getting the kid out from under his heel would be delayed for the foreseeable future, if not glossed over and totally forgotten altoghether, now that actual war had broken out- for... this was, beyond a doubt, a declaration of war. Regardless whether the country actually wanted this fight or not, first blood had been drawn, and it would not stop flowing until one side, or both, were beaten and battered thoroughly enough to admit defeat. So... there was that consolation at least. "Alright look, we've been at this game for hours now-" he spoke the words, not aloud, but internally. On the opposite end of the conversation, he could feel the Elder Ones, patient, stoic, about as emotionally expressive as cold slabs of slate on a winters day. Despite his growing agitation, all they met him with... was nothing. Nothing but a stone cold facade that had shot down most of his inquiries thus far. "either you lot can show me something of what's waiting for us, or we can cut this charade short and stop wasting each others time... Go on, lets try this again..." Damned if he knew why they'd been so difficult about the subject- they'd hardly had much reserve about showing him at the very least a glimmer of what a battle would like during conflicts past... hell, they even had no real qualms about helping in the middle of a fight, whenever he could muster the strength to call to them to begin with...but fine, just one last time. If they still refused, perhaps it was simply something better left seen with his own eyes. Or perhaps it was all already over, and there was nothing left worth seeing. Nothing left worth showing...he pushed the thought from his mind, waiting for a response, any response really...

Flesh. Charred, steaming, rent. Flesh was what she smelled in those final moments, the burned stench of ozone and iron-rich hint of blood mingling right along with it. The brightest light she'd ever seen, just barely grazed her arm, yet in such brief contact dropped the fury of a thousand gods and then some upon her mortal coil. Fires. Her entire body afire, nerves spasming, organs screaming, but nowhere near the volume of her own cries, nowhere near the death rattle that escaped her lips as she fell to the floor, limp, smoldering, bleeding. Dying...dying...dead. She could feel it creeping closer. Each beat of the heart slower than her last, each breath shorter, every sense fading. And still, her entire body kept screaming despite her failing perception. All but the arm... no, no, the arm was silent, the arm may not have even been there anymore, for as little as she felt from it. Darkness. Closer. closer. Almost here. She heard them, in the distance. Their shouts, their screams of horror, their voices, closer and closer. Speaking not in their usual whimsy of sweet nothings, whispered in the wind, but true tongues... tongues like those spoken by the likes of man, tongues she for once did not need to decipher. Tongues that spoke of smiting and smiters, of ruined flesh and fleeting life. Tongues of frantic folk... scarred folk... folk trying their best to contain some horror, but failing miserably as it expanded right before their eyes. The pulse in her chest wavered... then finally halted. And as the darkness finally took her, all of them cried in great, pained volume, a single word... a word that she never heard.

k14, sleep Knight 5

"Uh... yeah, it's fine man. Don't worry about it." He said with a nod to the other patron as the man- quite literally -set about helping his drunk buddy home. He stayed there and watched the two leave, looking down at his own reflection in the tankard he carried, wondering aloud once they were gone "Nogu... like... those nogu? I mean, I guess it makes sense the guy might be a little resentful for his ancestors, but... damn that much hate? That's something I'd expect from someone who was actually alive to fight and lose that war. Is being a Nogu in Lestli really that bad these days? I mean, they were given citizenship after all, even allowed into the interior for formal education and study...that's stuff usually reserved for natives. Maybe shit's really not that simple though..." He downed the rest of the mug before turning to the monk and the noblewoman, sliding the empty cup along the main counter where it could be collected later "Anyways... that's over now I guess. I uh... look, I think I'm just gonna head on up and turn in. See ya in the morning."

The lone voice broke through the veil as she thrashed and screamed within her dreams, lashing out not unlike a wild animal stuck in a trap it had no intention of becoming it's downfall. Ironically, it seemed the priestess was able to do with mere words what all her fury could not, as the mist slowly lifted, bit by bit, and her senses faded out of the realm of the ethereal... and back into reality. "Thanks..." the girl muttered, still scanning the area for the troubador- only to find... the coward had run off. Hand going bone-white on the hilt of her sword, she grit her teeth once more, before noticing the one enemy who actually was within range to be made into a rage sink. The rider could run for now, but she could not hide. Not from her. Sheathing the galesword at her side and retreiving the parrying blade from the beast of her coat, she had closed the distance between herself and the scavenger with frightening ferocity, voice coming in a warcry, brilliant silver streaking through the air with a dull whistle, the two mingling into an indistinguishable melody that bespoke of the man's impending demise... E6, Shank the Scavenger with Parry Knife

The Tonberry revved his Wheelie, letting his blade hang limp in one hand as he leaned back in the seat lazily and scanned the structure, his chocobo hairdress bearing eerily close resemblance to the hair style of a certain human hero of his world- if humans could even be heroes -but whether it was in any way the intent of the reptilian killer when he'd made it years ago or not, remained to be scene... "Take to long, they'll come out here and gut ya while you're talking. Come up with a plan and stick to it, before something notices us out here and gets any funny ideas..."

"You're not helpin' here, mate..." Marek muttered as Rokan passed by, before returning his attention to the more immediate issue "Look bud, let's just calm down, alright? Yeh, I'm from Lestli, but I'm just a traveller here, out seeing the world and what not. I got nothin' to do with the theocracy other than being born in it's borders, hell I've done more for folks since I left than I ever did while I was there-" he pulled a string from under his collar, revealing at the end of it's length a simple, lead medallion- the Signaculum from his service days -that he held up for the belligerant sailor to examine. It's details were sparse, but even in the flickering lamp light it was easy to make out; the official emblem and stamp of the Sathori armed forces engraved towards the top with his full name and the words "Royal Dragoons" scribed just beneath it, his unit number following right after... "I'm not looking for any trouble bud, just here to stay the night. Tell ya what, how about I get ya a drink, and we can try to smooth this over?"

Noting her obvious bewilderment, he took another sip from his mug "Ditto. Again sorry to just jump over so suddenly. It's.... the hair by the way, and the eyes. The facial structure too. It's kinda easy to spot a noble. I was just curious is all, seeing as how I certainly wasn't expecting to find a Monk from back home among our numbers, let alone a member of the aristocracy. It just.... makes me wonder how things are going back in the theocracy, is all. Been a long while since I heard anything of home... anyway, I can see I've weirded you out more than enough already, so I'll get out of your hair..." With that said, he started to make good on his promise, rising from his chair to leave...

"Ah of course, how rude of me. I don't think we've properly met actually- I'm Marek." And glancing at the monk as well "Infact, I don't think I got your name when we were outside either..."

Well, that answer told me about fuck all...my dear, I more or less already guessed they had to be some type of massive energy surge- oh whatever... If you want information sometimes you have to get it yourself, I suppose. Working for him all those years taught me that much, at least. Trying to glean a Resonance in a foreign world, are we? An interesting endeavor, let's see how well it goes... There was no problem earlier, when we were fighting off that volley of spells. I don't why one would arise now... now if they could just finish and actually come up with a battle plan, I can get to work... You could, you know... say something... Why? The being, the one claiming to be an officer of overwatch or some such, and that magic talking slab probably already have something drummed up, I'd likely be wasting my breath. So let's just hear what they have first... And so the Caller stayed silent for now, waiting for the other two to inevitably respond with their own judgement on the situation. She had to admit, she truly was more the type to actually do rather than discuss, and she was seeing that simple truth more and more here. Perhaps it simply came with being a lapdog most of one's life, or perhaps she'd gotten too used to being given an objective and improvising her own way to ensuring the mission was done.

"The Lunar Father willing, no trouble will arise during the night... or afterwards." he answered, expression a bit... cooler than the amicable attitude before. He had... actually lied to Marcus outside, at least partially. He hadn't been giving an offering for his protection, but rather the inn that was putting them up for the night; He had even gone so far as to order Erce to roam the forests around the wharf, keeping an eye out for any soldiers approaching. He had learned his lesson from Greydale, regardless how much of a success the defense of the town had been, no matter how much of a name he'd gotten for his role in it, the last thing he wanted was a repeat where he dragged unsuspecting folks into some mess. If someone came around after they left, looking for a trail, there was no way he could really stay behind like he had back then. Hence... enlisting the father's aid was undeniably necessary here. Hopefully he would answer the prayer. Soon enough though, the friendly smile from before is back on his face, as he took a sip from his mug. "Anyways We'll be out of your hair by the morning, no worries. I'll make sure my colleagues leave their rooms in tip-top shape before we go, save you the trouble for your kindness." He scanned the rest of the pub, aside from the two shipmates and the Archer talking about magicked cannons or some such. Looking for the monk actually, and when he found him... well, what he spotted surprised him even more than how a lestlian clergy was serving in a foreign knights order... to think a full-blooded noble would... "And speaking of my Colleagues... if you'll excuse, madam..." Grabbing his drink and relocating to the same table as the monk and the woman, he sat down, giving a wave to Marcus. "hey man, figured you'd be at least a little interested in their talk about magic ships or whatever. Our archer friend at least seems pretty taken with it," He said, before glancing at the young woman "Terribly sorry to interrupt your discussion by the way... I just couldn't help but notice- you're from Lestli, aren't you? And not just any ordinary citizen, but a noblewoman at that."

So... that's the... odd sensation I've been feeling... Perhaps I've finally found a way... Of course you'd think that. But no, I think I have an idea that's a bit more productive. And you already razed one world when you were at your full glory, I'm not about to potentially give you the opportunity to do it over again. A Pity, and here I thought our trust was worth more than this. It is. Just not when matters of great energies or potential gains are involved. I know you. I know how All of you lot are... you made it hard for us to ever forget, afterall. Even if this idea proves to work, you won't be touching a single drop of the output. Staying silent as the others continued their discussion, ghost finally felt it was time to ask the one thing yet lingering in the air "Forgive me, but could you elaborate a bit more on these Leylines? As you say, I do feel something here. If you can share what exactly they are and how they work, I think I may have a Potential idea...."

Aurora stayed in one of the dimmer corners of the courtyard, far and away from any of the armored humans or mages manning the fortress, her face practically locked into a scowl. These lot, these outworlders like her, she could tolerate them... most of them... but amongst all these figures who so heavily resembled the likes of the very same metal clad, hairless chimps she'd spent so long fighting, the chimps who she'd killed countless of not just for mere sustenance after a certain point, but because the damn buggers would raze and tear apart everything if they weren't stopped.... Needless to say, she was in no mood to speak, regardless of whether it was to a fellow Outworlder, or a god-forsaken knight of this realm. It meant nothing that the inhabitants of the fort weren't openly hostile, she knew full well it had everything to do with the threat of the endless legion of walking bones lurking just outside their walls, and not a thing beyond that stopping them.