Shamitako Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 (OOC: Since I know it's going to come up, if you want clarification on your role, please do poke me on Discord) Team Mega Star Cannon Merlin (Leader/Nuker) Anemone (Tactical Support) Ice (Nuker) Exile (Nuke Guard) Feardorcha (Forward) Chernobyl (Tank) Team Those Guys Gypsy (Leader/Comms) Forge (Tactical Support) Charity (Nuker) Sense (Nuke Guard) Bellona (Forward) Bartek (Tank) Those Guys Crouched inside the doorway of a rather large, hexagonal institution, the barren plains of the Plane of Sloth spread lazily out to the horizon. The group was uncertain of themselves and uncertain of each other, most had only met each other a few times before when Merlin called the entire school together. This time had been different, she had only called those who had reached a certain threshold in their magic training. It was good to have Gypsy and Charity in the group, according to Merlin most of the more powerful mages has gone to ground after hearing of Ansuz's betrayal. They could perhaps be considered cowards, but Merlin didn't seem to blame them. "Merlin says she's in position." Gypsy said, breaking the silence that had lingered in the group, "Bellona and Bartek, take the lead, and be ready. The instant we find people we start breaking things, draw as much attention as possible. We're just trying to make noise and buy... ugh ...'Mega Star Cannon' time to infiltrate. Forge, when we get into a fight, try to stay out of it and sneak some metal past the enemy deeper into the base and keep up watch for reinforcements." Inside the entrance was a long white hall with various wooden doors scattered across it. Most of them had small glass windows, through which could be seen empty laboratories full of machinery, plants, and the occasional unconscious child. If they could successfully clear the facility, the Round Table would rescue the children and take them in. For now the group would just have to search the halls in hopes of finding a way to make a commotion Mega Star Cannon Hiding outside one of the building's other entrances was Merlin's team. Still uncertain, they were made more comfortable by the fact that their strange and disarming teacher was leading them. Still, they barely knew each other and now they were being asked to infiltrate a facility that could be full of danger. "Alright idiots," Merlin announced, "Gypsy's team is moving in, we're following. Feardorcha, put on your most generic face and keep up a deflection illusion. Then scout the hallways, if you see anyone, immediately retreat back to the main group. Anemone, keep on the lookout for illusions. Unfortunately, there's going to be traces of magic in basically every room, so unless you sense a large buildup don't bother mentioning it. The rest of you will just be helping search and hoping you're not needed for anything more. Our goal is to search as much of the facility as we can in as little time as possible while Those Guys distract them." Despite her cheerful tone, it was obvious by how clearly she dictated orders that Merlin was taking this very seriously. The hall was just like the one on the other side, white with scattered doorways. Feardorcha went ahead down the hall while the main group ducked into one of the labs. The lab seemed to have been turned into a forest. A few dozen small trees in clay pots filled it from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. It was a strange sight to say the least, seeing such a large grouping of trees outside of ancient photographs. Each tree seemed to have a number on it, alongside a small dot in either green or red, presumably indicating something to do with success or failure. (OOC: Deflection illusion, as in the sort of illusion that makes you "less noticeable" to the point where even people looking directly at you won't take note of you without good reason) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) Feardorcha nodded at Merlin's orders, and put his sunglasses and black fedora into the briefcase he had been carrying, and took of the gauze covering his face, revealing an extremely average looking and unnoticeable face underneath the gauze. He then changed the color of his clothing to a bland looking beige, and cast a deflection illusion to try and will himself invisible, he coughed and softly said "Acknowledged" in an accent that would be considered reminiscent of a northern Irish man, and skulked off inside of the lab. The meeting was very sudden, and the assorted collection of other members of the order were....interesting, but the moment she said mentioned the mission taking place in a lab, and something about protecting the innocent from harm, he immediately said yes. He kept maintaining his deflection illusion and generally trying to be unnoticed, to anyone watching he would simply be a beige humanoid shape of no particular interest, unless they could somehow see through his illusions of course. Feardorcha is currently investigating the hallways while trying to look unnoticed. Edited February 7, 2017 by Cronos5010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) It was somewhat unusual for Sense to be outmatched in terms of height. However, it was quite obvious that Bartek had the edge over him, and his stature was further supported by his imposing bulk. It was somewhat refreshing in a way, not to tower over everyone. Bartek's attitude was a nice change of pace too. There had been far too little cheerfulness of late. Bellona was a little odd, somewhat shy, or at least subdued. But she was also capable of delivering massive pain, judging by her role on the team. It was an interesting juxtaposition, but it made no real difference. Whether she was unusually meek or not, he would be working to support her from behind. Charity and Gypsy were both familiar to him, even to the point of considering them friends. Gypsy in particular was just a fun guy to be around. Forge...well, he couldn't say much about Forge. She seemed like a reasonable person, and had had a bit of difficulty keeping still earlier, but there was nothing else he could really comment on. Merlin was in position. As the team entered the hall, Bartek and Bellona leading, Sense peered into the laboratories. A chill, then an involuntary shudder. He saw children, presumably the subjects of some malicious experimentation. Many of the rooms had them. Test groups, trials, treatments...it was sickening. He halfheartedly tugged at one of the door handles. It was unlikely to open, but if it did, the room could provide them with some cover. Edited February 7, 2017 by Strider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 Spoiler Feardorcha snuck along in perfect silence. The deflection spell was easy to maintain and combined with his Spark it seemed unlikely he would be discovered. He turned a corner and found that the bright white hallway dimmed slightly. There were strange markings on the walls here. It seemed dangerous but there were no people so he didn't necessarily have to turn back Sense Surprisingly, the door opened without any trouble. Inside was a mass of scientific equipment but seemingly nothing else of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 It was unsurprisingly easy to maintain the spell, but Peyton remembered not to let his guard down, it would not be good to lose his cool now, but as he noticed the strange markings on the wall he found himself trying to examine them a little closer, it seems like a good idea to not ignore the blatantly obvious clues. Feardorcha stopped for a moment as he examined the strange markings on the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raindrop Valkyrie Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Mega Star Cannon, Anemone. "Oh? Ah, yes... don't worry should be a cinch. Powerful magic sticks out much more than ambient leftover residue. After all if it's still active it's easier to detect." Anemone said confidently. She smiled, giving a thumbs up. Her true sight was rather good at picking up the differences. Magical residue from long cast spells was easily dismissable as it didn't register as any type of magic other than that it was magical in origin. So, it was easy enough to determine what was an illusion or... what was worth mentioning to the group. "If only my vision wasn't what let me detect magic... could be using this time to get a peek at some of those nice peaks... heheh. I kill me." Anemone thought to herself. She kept panning her head around to see if she could catch a glimpse of any powerful magics. She kept her eyes following the lump she knew was their team member, Fear... something or another. She didn't really care what his name was. He wasn't cute... nor had anything of value to observe, so his value was little to her. And worst of all.. male... ew. "Merlin's are pretty great... but there's new ones for me to observe. Ahhh... it's so exciting~. New bazoongas, always a delight. Wonder which I should start with? Hmmm..." Anemone pondered the most important of queries while she passively observed the scene. If one looked at the girl her ponytail swung back and forth, as she had a light grin on her face. Seemingly just blissful, and innocent. Anemone obverses with her special eyes, looking out for any particularly large sources of magic. Basically... her job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Ice kept an alert lookout herself; she wasn't sure if she could trust the capabilities of anyone else here. Not that she didn't believe Merlin was capable of finding reliable talent, but it was difficult to know without seeing firsthand. The trees in the room, however, piqued her curiosity slightly. She looked them over, splitting her attention between them and watching for anything that seemed to be a threat to Merlin or the rest of the group, idly wondering what they could be doing with the plants. Her teammates were another curiosity. Merlin, of course, was a known factor, insofar as Merlin was capable of being such. Feardorcha seemed innocuous enough, but it was even harder to trust someone whose specialty was fooling people. Anemone's apparent lack of focus was a concern, though her ability was useful at least. Exile seemed to have similar problems, and Chernobyl was simply dangerous to be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Bartek, Those Guys "This reminds Bartek of days in factory. Tiny corridors for not tiny man. Is not good on the joints." The hulking mountain man takes the lead. This wasn't the first dangerous situation he'd been in, not in the slightest. Granted, most such situations didn't involve the possibility of being exploded by magic or metal- except that one time, bless their poor souls-, but he'd taken it in stride. He looked behind him, gazing down upon his smaller compatriots- even Sense, a tall man in his own right, was dwarfed by Bartek's sheer physicality. Such stature and mass had been passed down in the Kemmerich family for generations. Bartek turns around to his smaller compatriots. Most of them were young, Bellona and Gypsy being the exception. Still, Bartek was Bartek, and that meant he'd protect them. Not that he minded. "Stay behind Bartek, friends. And remember two things Mother always tell me. One, try not give up. Two, give good greeting!" Satisfied with imparting his wisdom upon the group, he concentrates on creating a barrier to absorb incoming attacks for the whole party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonRage Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Bellona heads in first, if reluctantly. "We've got to break things. Um... That sounds violent. I'd really rather not. But the kids are in trouble, so..." She raises her right leg, and lightly taps the door with her foot. Its center splinters like it was hit by a battering ram, and the rest of it flies off its hinges to practically disintegrate against the far wall. "If anyone's in there you should really surrender! I'll hit you if I have to, but you'll be happier if I don't." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) "No, no. Not good greeting. Bartek thinks, you need more assertiveness. More oomph, like they say in city. Is good for intimidation if you not have strong bones like Bartek. Is help very much in life, when you give good greeting." Edited February 7, 2017 by ElfCollaborator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinwolf Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Forge - Those Guys Forge follows along quietly, staying near the middle of the group (not in the back - if they got attacked from behind she'd not be able to do her job). She's in her "serious mode", purple eyes surveying the path as the party moves on. She didn't know any of these people, but Merlin had only picked those a certain point along, so she felt confident she could trust their skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Those Guys The room Bellona found was largely empty outside a few metal cabinets in one corner. It was curious that the cabinets were metal, metal couldn't be farmed like wood. There must have been something of importance in them. Most of the walls were bare, but the one on the left had a large symbol that looked a lot like a letter B on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 A crash. A raucous din as Bellona violently removed the the door from its frame. The sound echoed down the hall, and people would not be long in coming. But they had been told to be the distraction, serve as bait, act the sacrifice for Merlin while she did what she did best. Sense made his way over, crunching splinters beneath his feet. He peered in, and stepped over the threshold. It seemed almost entirely vacant, save a few suspicious cabinets in the corner. Metal was suspicious. Someone must have wanted to hide something. What could it be? Sense took one last look down the hall to assure himself that all was still clear. "Could you tell me if you see anyone in the hall while I'm in here, Bartek? These things here won't open easily..." Nevertheless, he made his way over to the cabinet and tugged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinwolf Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Forge - Those Guys "...I could just open that, you know that right? It's metal after all. Probably best to open it from a range, in case there's a trap or something." Forge says. If Sense stops his action, she'd try to open the cabinets using her magic - presumably this falls under Manipulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Feardorcha The marking appeared perfectly innocuous, simply scrawled on the wall with a black marker. Even leaning in to observe it seemed to do nothing. Mega Star Cannon While checking out the trees, Ice noticed something odd about one of them. Its bark looked like it was peeling off, even dying. The tag on it had a green mark. Those Guys Forge opened the cabinets to reveal... A single bottle of medication in one of them and nothing else. It made some sense to store chemical medication in a safer location. But multiple cabinets for one bottle and no locks on any of them, it was a total waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Feardorcha shook his head for a moment, and made a mental note to try and figure out what it meant later, he then continued down the hallway, continuing to scout out the area for the rest of the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Hm. A green mark. Green would indicate success, but signs indicate the specimen is dying. Which would imply. . . "Merlin. I believe they may be testing poisons here." One single sickly tree marked as successful might not be sufficient evidence - perhaps they're using a nonstandard color coding, or perhaps at minimum it was something else harmful, but if Merlin knew, she was about to be corrected. If not, more information was rarely hurtful. If they were indeed testing methods of killing here, then they'd best be prepared for those methods to be turned on them as soon as the operation began in earnest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empiricist Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Exile - Team Mega Star Cannon - Tree Room Wandering behind Ice, her smile vacant, her path erratic, Exile scans her gaze across ceiling, and then the floor, eyes drifting to and from just about everything other than at the trees themselves, paying particular attention to anything lying along the edges of the room. "Hehe~ trees~" she spoke in her usual sing-song manner, sweet and clear, though more quietly than usual, the concept of stealth not entirely lost on her it seemed. There were soooooo many trees! It was like a forest here! What could they have been working on here? Something amazing she bet! Amazing enough for this big facility, and, she could only presume, more than enough manpower to protect it. How exciting~ She wondered how they'd do it. Couldn't be too restrictive - they probably have to move stuff, and it would suck for someone on their first day on the job to take the wrong turn and get crushed by a gravity anomaly or something. Passive surveillance maybe? Ooh! Maybe something that can identify their own people? There could be tags on the staff, or traps that guard could activate. That could be interesting. She wondered how expensive all this stuff was, how easily it were replaced, how willing they were to destroy their own property just to defend the facility. Probably a negotiable amount. Kick up too much of a fuss, and everything's on the table. As long as the data survives right? Melee weapons and the like could serve well inside these labs, especially for ambushes, but with hallways so long, outside of them, ranged units would work really well. Well enough to put a beam straight through her pretty little head, if it would even leave that intact of course. How exciting~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Fedora Feardorcha stepped forward, feeling oddly, as though he were missing something. He didn't have to wait long to find out what. Another symbol had been covering the floor in front of him, scrawled in a silvery white so as to be almost invisible if you weren't looking for it. It now glowed bright red and bring red lines lanced out from it to the more visible symbols. Bars of fire shot out from the symbols, sealing Feardorcha in place. (OOC: Anemone can probably detect this BTW, he's not very far) Mega Star Cannon Merlin came over to observe Ice's findings. She looked at the tree and the tag, trying to discern what was up. After a short while she nodded solemnly to herself. "This tree is so sad. So sad..." She mumbled. She continued studying it a while longer before suddenly standing at her full height. "Age manipulation." She announced, "Not magic though, so I don't really care. I don't think we're going to find anything useful in here, we should move to the next room." A loud rumbling suddenly permeated the entire building. It was a bit more noise than she'd asked for, but it seemed their distraction was well at work. She waited for a message from Gypsy to let her know, but nothing came through. Hopefully that meant he was just busy with fighting and not that something had gone wrong. Gypsy would handle it, she had to cover her side of things so his efforts weren't wasted. Those Guys Gypsy himself walked to the center of the metal cabinet room and gave the area a look. His eyes widened when he saw the symbol on the wall. There was only one person who would use a symbol like that. "Out! Out now!" He yelled. Mooseek for the rest of this fight But it was too late, the wall opposite the symbol disintegrated. Gypsy only had half an instant to react, he smashed his hands together, a gesture which helped him focus, and teleported Forge, Bartek, Sense, and Bellona out of the room. A massive pink and blue laser beam tore through the room with a roaring thunder, engulfing Gypsy. The laser slowly petered out and Gypsy could be seen again, kneeling in pain and surrounded by a soft glow which quickly faded away. "...refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." Charity finished, having cast a general protection spell just in time. The symbol on the wall now glowed in bright red, implying that it was active in some manner. Whatever it was, it seemed to have absorbed the laser, preventing a massive hole from being torn in the wall. The other wall was now gone, replaced by a long hallway made of other former walls. At the end of this destruction there was a large round... something with a person standing beside it. The round thing seemed to be glowing with the same pink and blue energy as the laser. It was plain to see that the metal cabinets had been a decoy to set up the group at the end of a firing range. Worse, that attack had more or less put Gypsy out of commission. There wasn't much time to figure out a solution either, it seemed like another blast could come any second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yours Truly Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Feardorcha cursed his inattentiveness with a vaguely audible "Bollocks", he then tried to touch the silver fire a bit with his finger, and proceeded to try and activate a force field of favor on himself, to try and make him radiate magic even more and protect himself from any harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Bartek, Team Those Guys "That was bad greeting, friend. Bartek not appreciating giant laser. Is like setting rabid dog on thief." Bartek turns to his allies, his voice lowered now. "I will cover you as long as possible. Maybe team should get Gypsy out. Laser is not good for health. Bartek knows, he has been struck before." Placing his hands up in a shielding gesture, he begins to cast a spell. If he did this right, this would place a spinning barrier between them and their opponent, buying them time while the wall kept out attacks. "Behold the unbreakable walls, the bulwarks of heaven and towers of hell! The Great Wall, Bartek rebuilds!" Bartek uses his Spark to create a temporary barrier to absorb attacks while the team decides what to do next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Sense inwardly cursed himself--and Bellona. They had both made mistakes, possibly disastrous ones, and now Gypsy was in a bad situation. The cabinet had been an obvious trap, and Sense had gone over, and just tried to open it. With as much foolhardy arrogance as possible. Bartek had created a barrier; that was good at least. Sense snatched some of the splinters from Bellona's demolition project. They needed to get Gypsy out, and he wouldn't be much good for that. "I've got some cover coming up. Someone get Gypsy!" He took shelter in the door frame, and concentrated, launching the splinters down the hall. It was nothing terribly dangerous by anyone's standards. It would be easily blocked. But immediately afterwards, he sent off two bursts of emotion. The first was confusion. The attacker would already be somewhat confused at being attacked with relatively harmless flying splinters, and this would hopefully bolster that existing feeling to the point where they might put some extra effort into a barrier. Second was fear. Slightly irrational, but hopefully justified by the confusion that the attacker would feel. These were some of the most primitive emotions, some of the most powerful when dealing with unknown attackers. Other emotions were more effective depending on the situation, but Sense didn't really have time for anything more sophisticated. After he done this, he hurriedly scooped up some more splinters. Edited February 8, 2017 by Strider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chevaleresse Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Age manipulation. Interesting but seemingly impractical unless being used to de-age someone or something, or possibly accelerate something to maturity; efficacy as a weapon was minimal. Unpredictable effects on mental state would render it impractical for producing soldiers from the children in the possession of the facility. This was wasted thought, though. A lack of interest by the leader likely meant it was currently irrelevant. Ice moved toward the exit, hesitating slightly and glancing back at Anemone. Assuming she received no warning from the seer, she'd proceed toward the next room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonRage Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Bellona rips about a ton of rock and soil from the ground with her mind and throws it at the laser drone thing. "Are you insane?! Do you know what happens to people who shoot me? Run for your life. Er, assuming there's something that thinks in there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfCollaborator Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 "Better greeting, friend! Still needs more assertiveness! When we get out, Bartek teach you real greeting, passed down in family for generations!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts