Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 2:02 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
The cannon I destroyed wasn't the last to fall. Still more burst into flames or froze over as the defenders of Revaliir struck back with renewed vigor. Soon, airships were flooding reinforcements onto the platform; no longer waylaid by arcane missiles. Despite this victory, however, the strength of the tide remained unchanged.
Many automatons were downed during the initial assaults, but, no matter how much damage was inflicted, they just kept coming back. Even blasting off the legs of one soldier merely caused them to crawl toward their opponent. The situation cast an image reminiscent of a necromancer's stronghold: especially since these creatures seemed to turn death on its head. They were intelligent, able to adapt to the magics that were being used against them, and they were merciless in their advance. This outside menace was truly terrifying in nature, and it came as no surprise when the first group of adventurers to arrive was completely wiped out.
When the screams of those poor men and women echoed out, reaching the ears of Katerina and her party, a new voice projected out over the entire battlefield. The specter that spoke had clearly been human at one time, but his tone was now twisted into a haunting reflection of its former self. Every word felt cold and lifeless, as if his speech could have been a weapon in itself.
"Lucky creatures," the automaton phantom uttered without showing form or face.
"At long last, you have found the tranquility of death. I was like you once: clinging to life and blind to the truth. When I uncovered the truth, I too shuddered and paled with fear. Deep in this sanctum, I was remade. Here, my brethren slumbered for eons, while the living grew like weeds in worlds like yours. My Lady knew this day would come: the day when a new world would come closer. She made plans for us all. We would purge that world, and cleanse it of the blight of the living. So come, poor victims of life. We will grant you tranquility in our great Tarishitar. Revaliir will be a tomb world once more, and the Goddess of Death will rule anew." The platform glowed green once the specter finished his monologue, casting fear and doubt among the ranks of mortals. The energy within that light seemed to give the automatons new life, causing them to repair any damage they had suffered thus far. Although the cannons did not come back with this spell, the platform now appeared as if there had been no invasion at all. Even the scars in the ground disappeared, leaving almost no evidence of an attack.
I knew at that point that our frontal assault wasn't working. Mortal might just wasn't enough so long as the automatons still had their primary energy source available to them. They would keep repairing themselves so long as that remained, nullifying any damage we inflicted. In order to get any headway, we needed to hit the center of the platform hard and fast.
Unfortunately, I realized almost instantaneously that such an action would be impossible without extreme losses of life on the part of Revaliir. There was only one course of action I could take that would prevent such a horrid outcome, and I flew low to commit it despite what after-effects it would have on my person. SAI, whom my asleep self called Kino, recognized the decision, even if she still questioned its logic.
"Are you really going to summon it here," she asked?
"The damage to the tower will be immense and delay our departure."Scoffing at SAI's words, I simply opened fire with the Shadow Fox on the charred earth below the platform. Anyone paying attention would think I was crazily digging trenches at a time like this, but my companion knew full well what the end result of the excavation would be. She knew the answer to her question already, but still thought to ask.
"Delay my departure, you mean. You'll still be here when Skadi arrives." Carving out a symbol that the Storm Wolf above would recognize, my seemingly aimless digging was finally beginning to take shape. An arcane circle specific to my realm gradually appeared underneath the floating platform, and it thrummed with power upon completion.
"Serena can wait a few months longer. Her greatest strength is patience, after all. The Day of Reckoning can wait." And so I stopped speaking to SAI, turning my attention to Moliira and her dragon instead. My telepathy was swift in that moment, necessarily so since the spell I was casting was already draining my power in mass.
~I'd move out of the way if I were you, Moliira.~ Divine energy flooded from the ground in that instant, bringing with it a swirling vortex of chaos. Through the gate, a tower's apex appeared, sundering reality and connecting two realms that should never meet. Himitsu no Koa rose from the abyss like a monstrous spire of gothic architecture, projecting itself upward and into the bowels of the floating fortress. After several tremors within the area, the tip of that holy structure emerged on the upper level of the metal Tarishitar. The remains of an enormous sphere decorated its top like a twisted ornament: marking the end of the platform's central, power source.
Therefore, with one fell stroke, I had expended all my energy to bring my temple to the war torn area of Bakulaw – or at least part of it. Himitsu no Koa was never meant to exist in the mortal plane like I had forced it to be, let alone be used as a weapon; but the invading automatons left me with little choice. In exchange for forcing myself to flee from battle, I took out the remaining turrets and the resurrection abilities of the platform. Everything related to the invaders lacked a power source now, and so even the island itself started to slide down the spire. Eventually friction stopped it, but the magic that kept the monstrosity afloat was now gone.
Wiping out the rest of the automatons, however, was now up to the adventurers. I was very weak after trying to use such a great amount of force in Parvpora, so much so that a cold sweat was already breaking out over my entire body. I desperately needed to rest, and so I directed my Shadow Fox down into the vortex that surrounded the tower.
"Let's go home, SAI," I said in a tired voice while disappearing from Bakulaw.
"Or at least to our home away from home."
Author: Naota, Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 1:57 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been nearly taken off guard, but staring wide eyed into a quickly approaching airship travelling faster than any he’d ever seen certainly did it. He nearly saw the light of Natsumi’s eyes before she regained control but not before a gust of wind blew him so hard his hair went back as did any loose parts of his clothing. He held fast to Torinasu and took only a half step back to brace himself, for once thankful for what he was in being able to do so. Though his muscles paid the price with soreness. No time for that though.
His eyes followed the course of her ship before tearing them away. He was getting too protective, too distracted, and now focused himself on the great enemy above head. Running wasn’t going to do much good and while it would keep him safe, that wasn’t what he was here for. The grip on his blade increased before he let it go, letting it stay safely fastened at his side as he sprinted. Every few meters he would teleport a great length forward before leaping up and landing on the top of a quick ascending airship. Its course was for one of the many platforms of the fortress, and as his chest heavily rose and fell he watched the destruction unleashed upon it.
Sweat ran down his brow as he regained his breathing, hands coming together in front of his heart to concentrate his energy. Soft warm waves rippled through his body, each one calming the pace of his heart, beat by beat, and soon his eyes were calm as was his breathing. The ship was moving at a decent speed, but not fast enough for him, and when he was close enough to see one of the landings he sprung and teleported there. The ground was slick…hot metal, and now that he was this close he could smell the stink of fumes and nearly had to cover his mouth from the gag inducing stench.
It was good that he had regained his composure because over a dozen men were on him at once. If he could even call them that. Had he not known any better he would have though them undead, but there was no pulse of his blade…nothing for it to feed on. What were they…?
“They’re new…and they’re quick. Stop thinking.” He nodded quickly to his inner daemon and quickly unhitched and pulled Torinasu from its sheath. Just because its intent wasn’t strictly for physical combat, didn’t mean it wasn’t useful: it’s constant razor edge and unbreakable blade made it all the more easy.
He slowly exhaled through his lips, eyes halving before he flickered from view, teleporting without pause behind, between, over, next to, all around them. His blade moved like black light as he put to use every decade of training he had gone through. While usually on the defense, he couldn’t afford to go about the fight in such a way anymore. Not with so much at stake. His slashes came hard, fast, but overall extremely precise, taking off their heads, their limbs, until he could finally pause long enough to pant. Their dismembered bodies were littered around him, and the forming smile faded when he saw that despite them being completely apart they weren’t dead…How was that possible?
He swallowed down against his heavy breathing, pushing his fingers through his sweat soaked hair before a woman crashed into him.
“Ah!” He looked around quickly, ready to strike but lowered his hand just as a sphere of energy had begun in his palm. It soon dwindled when he realized it was only another person in the fray. And just their luck: another swarm was upon them.
Don’t they stop?! As he was readying himself to start back up again, despite the ache in his chest from the race of his heart, another man came charging through, taking down the foes! Well that was a relief. Two of them together, that would be good…and while normally he’d stay with the group, he couldn’t. These creatures weren’t destroyed as easily as he would have hoped so his only hope was to take down as much of the fortress as he could and hope not to be completely drained by the end…
“Don’t kill our body.” His lips pressed into a line, nodding curtly before teleporting to higher ground. It seemed to be a blind spot in the turrets, but only a temporary one. Everything on this blasted thing was always moving! No time. He sheathed and tied off Torinasu, eyes ever moving to keep an eye on the turrets as they blasted. His jaw locked, his legs spreading to give him good balance and brace as his palms grew hotter and hotter. That same pool of energy he’d been storing up to unleash on the woman before realizing who she was had returned.
The brown of his hair slowly bled into crimson as did his eyes and swirling markings cut their way down his cheek in bloody smears before he finally unleashed, sending forth a massive explosion from both palms: each one directed at a separate turret. They exploded a bit more messy than he would have liked, but that was two less weapons to target on people. The force of the blast he’d sent out pushed him down and back, enough to cause light indents in the metal he was standing at and he shakily rose a hand up to touch his cheek, looking at the red on his fingertips in shock and disbelief.
“Minasé.” No answer, nothing in his head. What in the world had he just done…?
He touched down on the hilt of his blade, barely able to get any energy from it and as it was he was nearly spent himself. Coming from the bowels of Tarishitar straight here had taken so much out of him. Still he couldn’t stop, and brought his palms together, eyes closing for only a moment as he built up for another blast. When his eyes opened they were brimmed with tears of blood and he let out two more explosions, taking out turrets for as long as he could. His muscles ached, his heart pounded and there was a sick feeling of enjoyment as he watched the destruction unfold, and for a moment the lines were blurred for why he was even doing it in the first place…
Author: Suchus, Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:21 PM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
The crocodile woke to a shuffling noise, a cling of metal on wood, and the feeling of moving wood on his back. Someone must be moving something heavy. He glanced around at the moving world… And with surprise realized it was he who is being dragged, both legs caught by a mangled metallic soldier; the one who was temporarily disabled after the explosion. He was dragging him to the edge of the fortress, where the cannon was blown off.
A sudden, quick thrash sent the soldier to the floor. The crocodile rose and immediately grabbed the metallic attacker, and dropped him over the edge, the sound of the impact of metal on metal was barely audible between the cannon shots. Now he needed a way to get back down… Maybe, just maybe, fix the skiff…
Tavor threw his hand before him and focused his magic. Splinters and shards of fallen wood flew back to place, fixing themselves, until the skiff was on the fortress, whole once again. He climbed into the little boat, and it took off, sailing through the air, avoiding cannon shots, going down until it was barely off the ground. He passed the fallen cannon, where another blast was fired, hitting the soldier which he had thrown off the fortress, and reducing him to splinters and molten bits which didn't rise once again.
The staff in one hand and the
khopesh in another, the crocodile hacked at every enemy he could get close to, managing to temporarily disable some. He would summon a trail of mist if it wasn't useless. The boat was moving at great speed, avoiding the shots of attacking cannons almost easily.
Then he almost stopped.
The crocodile felt something which he didn't expect at all in this land. A powerful current. The boat immediately turned and sailed towards the water, almost getting hit by a cannon blast, and he saw a bunch of metallic enemies with weapons that fired water, and a powerful current it was indeed.
They extinguished the fireball of a person who Tavor realized is an ally, then one fired his weapon. The water shot like a pillar towards the boy, but stopped inches away from him, as if there was an invisible wall between them. The crocodile's water magic was indeed powerful.
He stepped off the boat, which pushed through the earth as it landed, and moved towards the enemies. The attacking soldier stopped his weapon, and the water was cut off. They all paused for a moment, taking in this newcomer, before they decided to attack, firing their weapons.
But nothing came out.
Their weapons hummed for a moment as the water struggled to get fired, trapped by the crocodile's mighty magic, stopping at the end of the weapons, then they all exploded simultaneously, water rising twenty feet into the air. Two soldiers were dismembered, the rest scattered around, temporarily disabled. The crocodile then turned to the potential ally.
"Lucky one" He said, turning and blocking an attack with his khopesh, before slicing the attacker's head off. The body would later rise once again to move around, perhaps aimlessly, or perhaps the head was not needed.
"Try to use the cannons. That kills 'em… I think."
Author: Hiro Kouen, Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 1:09 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
These enemies seemed easy enough, at least for Hiro. They were collapsing from a couple hits from his sword, and there were a bunch that were collapsed on the ground from his fire attacks earlier. However, appearances were deceiving. Hiro felt something approaching from behind him, he whirled around just to get blasted in the chest with an mana bolt, sending him flying back. He gave a cry of pain as he was sent flying through the air. He managed to land on his feet, digging his sword into the metal ground to keep him fly flying off the edge of the platform behind him. There were partially melted, deformed, damaged, or even crippled automations getting back up. There were ones with limbs that had been dissevered, ones with grevious cuts through their chest, or melted parts. They were just getting back up no matter what kind of a pounding they had been given previously.
"What the fuck are these things? They're just getting back up! Are they like, clockwork monstrosities? Are they made out of just metal like a metal golem? I can't figure it out!" Hiro raised a hand in the air and swung it downwards, stopping it when it was level with a group of automations that were shambling toward him. He released a loud yell from his lungs as large wave of flames erupted from his palm, expanding larger as it engulfed the group of enemies in a destructive inferno. He released a breath from his mouth, and watched as the enemies were sent flying while their bodies smoldered in flames. The flames were intense enough to leave scorch marks on the metal floor.
He scanned the area, there were a few frozen fortifications that had been placed down, enemies clashing of fellow warriors, and in the midst of it, Hiro noticed a woman laying on the ground, trying to get up. There were automations approaching her from all sides. She looked like she was in trouble.
"Damn it." Hiro charged forward past the burning enemies on the ground. He approached the woman, cleaving through the enemies that were blocking his path with his blade. He was getting closer, but one of the enemies launched a fiery blast toward her. He wasn't gonna make it there in time to save her. He thrust his hand forward, extending his mind toward the fiery projectile.
"STOP!" That was the command he was screaming in his mind at the projectile. It suddenly halted in midair mere feet away from this woman. Hiro continued running, finally reaching her. He had succeeded in stopping the projectile with pyrokinesis. He got in front of her, and waved his hand in the direction of another enemy, sending the fiery projectile at the automation, blasting its head head off. He turned toward the woman, who appeared to be older than him.
"You all right ma'am? You took a nasty spill. Name's Hiro Kouen. Shall we destroy these guys?" He suddenly heard the sound of running water. He turned his head to see a number of automations extinguishing the burning automations that he had scorched with some kind of water cannons. The burning ones got back up, and turned their attention on Hiro and the woman he just saved.
"Are you joking?" He summoned a ball of flame into his hand, and sent it flying with a swing of his hand at one of the automations. They all started unleashing water cannons at the fireball, extinguishing it.
"Is it me or are they learning and adapting or something?" They then aimed their water cannons at Hiro and unleashed torrents of water at him.
"Shiiiiiit!"{FYI the woman he saved was Katerina Silverstein, so you can jump in and save him back or something =P}
Author: Silverstein, Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:07 PM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
The sound of cannon fire rang through her ears. The wolf demon eyes was surprised upon seeing the attackers. They're bodies almost melded with there armor and some type of metal. They were different then anything she had ever seen. They were more than human, more than beast. Her eyes quickly scanned the area around her, there were few warriors fighting against these enemies with her. Of course, Katerina had to be in the middle of things. Not like some others, taking out cannons or high in the sky. Which was a better idea.
While dodging attacks, her eyes glanced above her, seeing movement. The Goddess' airship was out of control.
“Natsumi.” She thought, as she shot out ice from her hand, the shards stabbing into three men's chest, and killing them instantly. For a moment she was worried about the winged fox, but her fears disappeared seeing the ship gained control.
“That a girl.” She said with a smirk as she jumped away from a sword coming at her face.
The elemental needed to get her thoughts free of The Goddess. Turning her attention to her attackers, Katerina flicked her wrist, and puff of icy smoke shot from her hands. A sword appeared in her grasped. A small grin appearing on her face. It had been a long time since she had a fight like this, and she was going to make the best of it.
Black boots dug into the ground, and broke out into a run. Her sword held at her side until she reached a few men coming at her. Her sword swooshed this left and right. Catching one in the neck, she ducked under the blood splatter. Another man was sliced acrossed his chest. The last man, she stabbed right in the gut. A shock ran though the word, which she didn't mean to do. The body connected to her sword caught on fire and fell to the ground. She looked down at the body for a moment, she needed to get control of her new power.
Turning around, she was too late too put her attention back on the fighting. A large steel cannon ball was headed straight to her.
“SHITTTTT!” She yelled before quickly turned to run away. The impacted landed only a few feet next to her, the force sending her into the air flying. For a moment her eyes went dark, the force of the cannon ball taking her senses.
The wolf demons eyes shot open at the last moment. The green sky was all she could see until her body hit something. The smell of demon came to her nose. A grown left her lips as she quickly got to her feet to look who she had hit. With the taste of blood in her mouth, her lip was probably cut, her eyes locked on brown hair and green eyes.
“Sorry,” she groaned out. The pain her her back was slowly easing, but not fast enough.
The sound of footsteps behind her made her turn to see the men running at the. Every time she cut one down, there was five more to take their place.
"Damnit." She whispered getting her sword ready.
Author: Suchus, Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:00 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
Tavor stood on the shore, the seawater barely covering his feet. The crocodile reached forth and closed his hand around something in mid-air, like a doorknob. He turned his hand and, as he pulled backwards, a gate appeared out of thin air. Without hesitation, he stepped in, closing the door behind him.
Another gate appeared in Bukalaw, sending a small amount of seawater in, as the crocodile stepped through. He was now standing on a large metal object like a great cannon, falling from above. The ground was charred, debris scattered everywhere, the center made darker by a looming shadow from the fortress above. Tavor growled in frustration; he needed a way to get up there.
The crocodile put his arm forth, and a small boat shot from the earth below; a skiff which he can summon and send away at will. He slid into the boat, and it sprang to life, sailing through the air, levitating higher and higher, following the ice dragon, just as several shots sailed past him.
His staff in both hands now, Tavor's boat sped forward, narrowly avoiding the blasts shot by the cannons. He was close now… Just a little higher, and–
The skiff exploded, reduced to splinters, as a cannon shot came in contact with it, sending the crocodile sprawling past a few more shots in mid air, and landing behind one cannon. Surprisingly, the cannons seemed not to detect him. Of course, they couldn't fire; the risk was too high.
One cannon seemed to be temporarily disabled; it still fired, but didn't turn well. Tavor scrambled to his feet and closed his eyes for a moment, listening. Someone bulky came charging at him with an axe, but the crocodile stepped to one side and slammed his staff into the attacker's side, before sending a thin layer of dark mist curling at his feet. The attacker dropped, screaming in pain as the mist rendered his feet useless, partly decayed. The crocodile noticed a pouch in his belt, and grabbed it, sniffing it. Gunpowder; excellent.
He opened the pack and started pouring its contents at the base of the frozen cannon, and pulling a tinderbox out of thin air, and igniting the gunpowder, the explosion sending him to the far side of the fortress, and sending the cannon tumbling, with little damage to other cannons. The attacker was killed in the explosion, and the crocodile getting first degree burns, little second.
The crocodile opened his eyes to see the result; one cannon gone, a lot of fire, and a pain in several parts of his body. Then the world went black.
Author: Moliira, Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:45 PM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
Sokanon was having the time of her life, and Moliira had a wide grin on her face. This a hunt of a sort, and the Goddess was in her element. Her arrows continued to rain frigid death onto the massive cannons below, and she kept at it, freezing them into place. That allowed a hole for the approaching air ships to slip in with their passengers. She could sense many people aboard those ships, and she wondered what they would encounter on the streets. But that wasn't the concern of the Huntress just now. She was content to circle the skies and rain death below. She nodded at Natsumi's offer, and signaled to her dragon companion to get out of range.
And just in time too, arcane spells slammed into the frozen turret and she watched with satisfaction as it exploded. But that wasn't all, it seemed to cause a chain reaction, and she could see fire creeping across the platforms. It was a start, and a good one. But Moliira knew it wasn't enough yet, she wanted to end the destruction to the grounds below. It was charred, looking nothing like the lush jungle she had seen just weeks ago with Marth. It saddened her, and the drow signaled for her companion to circle lower. She wanted to find out just why the desolate landscape had appeared.
What she found below was sickening to the Storm Wolf. Some kind of vents appeared to be keeping the floating fortress aloft, and it was the vapors from that which blackened the ground below. There was a growl in her throat, she could sense a pull from the ground below to the fortress above. It was drawing on the life-energies from below to power itself, and that was an abomination to Moliira. She was quite sure that Angela would be enraged as well once she saw what happened here.
Firing more of her icy arrows at the vents, some of them began to seal over. But it was clear that more would be needed to stop the desecration of the wilds below. A frown crossed her face, and Moliira urged her mount to go higher into the sky again. Then she saw something that made her stomach sink. Many of the flying fortress' defending had fallen to fire and blade and magic, but they were standing up again. It seemed that nothing about this place was natural, and it made the drow's stomach turn.
Sokanon saw the same thing, and the dragon started spitting ice. She started building cover for the attackers to hide behind, and made the ground slick for the advancing defenders. Hopefully it would make enough of a difference.
Author: Hiro Kouen, Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 1:32 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
Hiro felt uneasy about this. He was used to being an active participant, to take the front charge, as his father would. However, he was stuck with everyone else in an airship. His only option, since he did not own a flying mount of some kind, was to board an airship, and hope it didn't get shot down by the flying fortress's turrets. He had little choice. He remembered his father had a war airship, had flying armor, and all kinds of super powerful spells he could use to turn the tables on this. If he were here, he'd take his airship in, and destroy the turrets with ease. He would not be forced into this kind of situation. He'd be in the vanguard.
"You're not your father. No one else is. You have to work your way up to the top. You have his blood, and my blood in you. You have the potential to even surpass him. I believe in you." That's what his mother, Seraphia, would probably say if she were here. But it still made him feel uneasy to be in this airship, getting shot at with magic missiles, and not being able to defend himself or the ship. It was out of his control, and he hated that.
Hiro watched from the deck of the ship, watching as some dragon and other airships did battle with the turrets, finally taking one of them out in a fiery explosion. A voice echoed through the airship he was on.
"The enemy air defenses have been weakened! We're going in for a landing on the enemy island, prepare for combat!"
The airship sped up, lurching to the side and flew towards the flying fortress. The airship finally reached the island, a number of drawbridges opening and dropping down from the sides of the craft. Hiro looked down and saw a number of enemies watching and waiting of them to disembark. They looked like people, but they were all made out of metal, like weird machines of some kind. Some were armed with bladed weapons, others had weird miniaturized cannons on their arms. As soon as the drawbridges opened up, people started charging down the bridges. Blasts of magic started flying toward the assaulting forces, exploding waves of mana sending people flying off the airships, and down to the ground to be assaulted by the melee automations. Hiro wasn't on the drawbridge, he watched as people were being picked off trying to get on the fortress to start a headway into the heart of the base.
Hiro, son of Sabishii Kouen, knew he had to do something. A cold wind whipped through his black and red hair. He climbed up to the top to a ledge on the airship, drawing his long blade. He raised his hand up into the air, channeling magic through his body and up into the air. Appearing through the sky, many large, fiery rocks appeared and fell down through the air, striking the swarm of automations down below him. Explosions ripped through the hordes, sending molten metal debris flying everywhere. It didn't take long, though, that bolts of energy were sent in his direction. They were catching on to his position, that he was the source of the meteor swarm, dozens of spells flying at him. He leaped down from the edge, as the spells exploded against the side of the ship where he was standing. He focused his mana into this legs, bracing himself for an impact, and further more creating an aura of flame around his body.
He landed on the ground like the many meteors he had just dropped on the enemy, an explosion erupting from the point he impacted, smoke filling the arena. He charged with his sword, flying through the smoke, and started striking down the enemy automations with frightening speed. They were strong, but not fast, they had slow reaction speed, as Hiro started to notice. They took time to react when faced with a fast target. He started to cleave through the enemy, swinging his sword in both hands, cutting through them bit by bit.
He had to break through the initial wave of automations, and make his way into the heart of the fortress and tear it down.
Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 6:22 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
[OOC: Little long, though future posts shouldn't be this long. Long story short, one turret goes boom, and airships have an easier time getting onto the platform because of that victory.]
Although Natsumi was the first to arrive at ground zero, she was far from the last. Whilst the Fox struggled to control her newest acquisition, the Mistress of the Hunt arrived on scaled wings. Airships from the nations of Parvpora also came from the horizon, bearing soldiers and adventurers too crazy for their own good. Even the ground crawled with the presence of a familiar vampire hunter who had foolishly stepped out into the line of fire. There was little doubt, thanks to these arrivals, that the Goddess was far from alone in this war of worlds.
Despite the massing force, however, the iron platform just became more violent in direct proportion to the amount of Revaliir's defenders that rose to fight it. Like a disturbed hornet's nest, the alternate version of Tarishitar raised all of its canons, firing them into the sky at the approaching ships. Some of these vessels were downed immediately, their carcasses landing on the charred ground. Others were forced into evasive maneuvers, their pilots unable to make headway. Only a few of the original ships were able to land, one of them carrying Natsumi's old ally, Katerina.
Meanwhile, the Gatekeeper was having her own problems. Despite having knowledge of Revaliir's airships and how to pilot them, Natsumi found herself unable to control the Shadow Fox. Her flight pattern was erratic, swinging wildly back and forth in the wind. The cannons couldn't target her in this state of chaos, but neither could she do anything useful. The inside of the cockpit just kept blaring alarms at her until she eventually went into a tailspin. With seemingly no control on velocity, she plummeted into an obviously fatal descent.
'I can't see,' Natsumi thought as the world started to feel faint to her in that desperate situation. The force of the Shadow Fox was incredible during the downward spiral, and her consciousness at that moment was nothing short of a miracle. She was just about to try forcing herself to eject before she slipped under, but stopped when something scratched the back of her mind half way down to the earth. It was an itch from a far off place and a forgotten time.
'Y-you sure you can fly this thing?' A familiar voice resounded in the woman's ears, replacing the reality that fled from her senses. She blinked to find herself no longer in the war torn skies of Bakulaw. Instead, the fox stood younger in front of a scraggly looking man with curly, orange hair; freckles and ill-fitting spectacles. He reminded Natsumi of a younger version of the man she had seen rescuing her daughter years ago now: the very same one she had never heard the name of nor ever found again. Oddly, this time she felt like his name was on the tip of her tongue, but couldn't quite grasp it even as he spoke up again.
'The Shadow Fox is a beauty, but she's also a beast. Heh. Heh. And I don't mean that lightly.' Natsumi thought to speak at this point, only to realize this was only a memory. Her younger self spoke for her, sounding far cockier than the current rendition.
'Sounds like me, doesn't it,' the youthful Fox postulated?
'I told you, Meyne. I'm not good. I'm not even great. I'm…' Pain: sparking, snapping, turning inside Natsumi's head like a set of malignant cogs. In that moment of reverie, memories long lost rushed back to the girl as she struggled to finish the sentence of yore. The name of the stranger had been a catalyst, and now the Harbinger remembered all that Timedeath had taken from her.
Finally, the Goddess of Secrets was awake. I was awake.
Surprised? Yes, I thought you would be, but then it's difficult to talk about yourself with personal pronouns when you're not actually yourself, isn't it? Anyway, let's get back to the action, shall we?
When I awoke in the Shadow Fox, I was no more than a couple hundred meters from the blackened earth while travelling at a velocity that gave me only a couple of seconds to pull up. I managed to do so, but only after drawing close enough to Naota to send a strong gust of wind in his direction. My airship leveled out with the terrain beyond that point, and then shot back up into the sky in Moliira's direction.
"I'm the best damn pilot you've ever seen." Arrogant, but true. Now having regained complete mastery of my ship, I used its superior maneuverability to get around the cannon blasts and regroup with my fellow deity. She had just loosed ice arrows into a nearby turret by the time I arrived, and, while this attack of hers would obviously not be very effective against the turrets on its own, it was not in vain. Arrows alone wouldn't be especially good against plate metal, especially plate metal that did not lay over a body that could be crushed by impact force. Used as homing beacons for spells from a war airship on the other hand? That was a deliciously effective ploy.
~Let me help you with that, Moliira.~ Flying past the drow's, ice dragon, I mentally commanded my ship to lock onto her arrows in pursuit of this stratagem. The platform's cannons seemed to know my intentions, seeing as all the ones in range started trying to shoot me down more intensely the closer I drew to their wall. I was able to dodge the resultant onslaught till I got close enough to unleash my attack, but had to pull back from the extreme barrage afterward lest I be knocked out of the sky. The many energy missiles I fired from the Shadow Fox's arcane weaponry ports remained in my stead, however, and each one headed straight for the targeted cannon whilst I fled in the opposite direction.
Telling the difference between these bolts and the attacks of the platform would be difficult for most onlookers – especially given the distance most of them shared – but that predicament would change immediately once those missiles hit all of Moliira's arrows.
~Boom.~ was all I could say telepathically when that happened, because the entire turret exploded into a furious plume of arcane energy moments later. The arcane missiles I had fired had used the puncture marks and weakened points caused by Moliira's archery in order to directly target the inner workings of the turret itself. Their explosions overloaded the machinery directly, causing a chain reaction and, ultimately, glorious destruction.
Cheering broke out aboard some of the friendly airships once the wreckage of that now destroyed turret fell to the ground below the platform. The destruction was but a small act of defiance in a much larger conflict, and it stood as proof to those gathered that victory was possible with teamwork. This triumph also poked a hole in the floating island's seemingly impenetrable shield or magic missles, allowing airships to more easily pass through into the bowels of the city itself. The war of worlds was definitely far from over at this point, but my actions had won a much needed advantage for the Revaliites against their Automaton Counterparts.
Author: Naota, Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 4:50 PM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
(( OOC: Ignore anything with Minasé, only Naota can hear him as their conversations are in his head since they share a body. ))
From the top of the highest structure in Tarishitar he had been able to make out Bakulaw Isle clearly and what he saw nearly sent his head reeling. The sky had ripped with a sickening green and below it was the likes of a structure for whom he barely had words to describe. It was so close, and while he wasn’t entirely sure if that was where Natsumi had gone too he knew that it couldn’t be ignored. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that she had been here and then this ugly display was happening so nearby…it was as good a place to start looking as any. Aside from that, there were people on Tarishitar running this way and that to aid in the effects of the violet gas, his aid would be better suited on the isle.
With that thought he opened up a gate, breathing out slowly and thinking about what he might very well be getting himself into before forcing himself to step through before he could stop himself. When the other side of the gate opened on the Isle it was to complete chaos. He’d maybe visited this place once, perhaps twice…work didn’t lead him here after all and hardly any people came here for pleasure with how uninviting the animal inhabitants were. But it certainly hadn’t been like this. The once green landscapes had grown scorched and black: so fresh that steam was still rising off of the dead foliage. What on Revaliir…?
“You know, I would prefer if you didn’t get our body damaged beyond repair.” It wasn’t many things that rattled his daemon and for once he shared his fear.
This wasn’t a fight he could do with Torinasu, and he wouldn’t have the precious blade damaged until he understood more of what they were dealing with. Still, he couldn’t bear to part with it and kept it safely fastened at his hip as he briskly moved through the charred remains of forest,
“It’s not as if we can die so easily anyways…” The words were meant to be comforting, but his daemon hardly sounded any less tense as he replied in his head,
“That may be true, but pain is pain is pain.” He couldn’t argue that logic.
When he finally made it to a death ridden clearing he gaped up at the sky. From this much closer the foreign structure was breathtaking. Literally. And oh so terrifying. It was unlike anything he’d scene on Revaliir and suddenly he was filled with a level of doubt he hadn’t experienced since he was a child. He was very glad his family was nowhere near here…even his sister, as hard as it was to keep her in his mind as family, he instantly felt protective of her as well when he looked upon this great beast. And the rip didn’t add any comfort to the situation.
“You’re sure this is where you want to be…?” It wasn’t his own safety Minasé was concerned with, it was the body they shared, but his soul was the dominant one and it was his choice to make what happened to it.
“Have a little more faith.” A great dragon was rampaging through the air, its rider sending icy attacks at the structure and seeing someone getting the better of it, even for a moment, strengthened his confidence and he nodded to no one with his resolve.
Here we go…. His eyes surveyed it, trying to find some type of weakness but from this low ground it was hard to do so. Somehow he needed to get into the air, but how?
A strange sound started, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end from how unworldly it was. His eyes lifted towards the structure and his lips parted.
“Move.” He did just that, teleporting a good fifty feet away from where he had been just as the blast came down and he looked from a crouch at the spot he’d been standing at that was reduced to nothing more than a shallow black crater. His heart was pounding and he knew then he didn’t have the element of surprise anymore and had to keep moving. That sickening sound started again and he darted, sprinting with the occasional teleport to keep from being hit as strike after strike chased him. How were they doing this?!
When he was finally able to stop it was only due to shielding himself in invisibility and his chest rose and fell deeply, quickly, as he struggled to catch his breathing; his eyes now a blazing crimson from their natural emerald hue. Something zipped past him above head, also dodging attacks and it too looked completely different from anything he’d seen here, an…airship? That was all his frazzled mind could come up with but there was something very distinct he caught inside of it, even from here. He’d know those ears anywhere, even if she was a great many meters higher and further than he.
“A-Ah ah, she’s fighting her side, you just concentrate on not getting our body burned to a crisp.” He nodded weakly, eyes returning to the fortress, only now noticing the people that were on it. He had to get to them, stop them, whatever that would mean. Maybe there was a way into it to disable what it was doing or at the very least disarm them. But none of that could be done here from the ground. It was time to get higher up…it would cost so much energy, he couldn’t remain hidden in invisibility and decided to let it drop, thankful that he was no longer locked and targeted. For now.
Author: Silverstein, Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2016 5:47 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
With a kiss to her daughter's head, Katerina looked down into her jasmine eyes. She wasn't going to say goodbye. This was not the last time she was going to see her. She wanted to take her with her, with all her heart, but it wasn't safe outside the doors of the cabin. The rifts were going to tear this land apart. She couldn't have that. She have to save the place they called home. With her daughter around, she couldn't concentrate at the task at hand. Closing the Main rift. There was talk about The Goddess Natsumi trying to close the rift. She had to help her.
“Mom. Please let me come with you.” Kiyomi pleaded once again to her mother.
“No. You have to stay here. Where it's safe.” With a tight hug, she pulled away and grabbed her child's hand. Turning it palm side up, she traced a heart in her palm.
“Forever and always.” The wolf whispered looking up to her child's eyes.
“Forever and always, Mama.” Kiyomi repeated while trying to hold onto her mother's hand as she walked away, and out the front door. A tear running down her cheek. Sitting down on the wood floor, her arms circled the tigers neck, and snuggled into his neck.
“She will come back.” Alexander calmly said to the child, as he rested his chin on her head.
A determined look replaced the look of sadness, as Katerina locked the door behind her. The small cabin in the woods was well hidden and warded. Katerina had stayed there a few times when she traveled this area. Turning around, six wolfs and an eagle waited for her instructions. They were unsure if they were leaving with her or staying.
“Victoria, keep your eyes in the sky. If anything happens you get Alexander. He will handle it.” The hell tiger was more then capable. Turning her eyes to her wolves, she looked at each of them.
“Make a perimeter. Stay on the lookout. All of you…..” The wolves all nodded at once.
Jumping onto the back of the horse, Katerina nodded.
“Protect her.” She said looking down at the animals around her.
“No harm will come to the child.” Shadow promised the alpha of his pack. The child was family now, and they wouldn't let anything happen to her.
Having complete faith in them, she kicked the sides of the horse softly, and they road off into the woods. She needed to hurry so she wouldn't miss Natsumi's assault.
The lower area below the floating city was in chaos when she reached the main rift. Camps were scattered about, as she road past. She couldn't see the rift, but the sky was different here. Jumping off her horse, she saw the a few airships land. As soon as the ramp was down, many people ran out, trying to get away. With her wolf speed, Katerina ran in between each person and finally made it to the air ship. Jumping over the railing, she landed on the deck, she had just made it before the airship started to rise. Many others armed with weapons and potions gathered in the ship.
“Miss what are you doing?! This isn't a place for women!" A young man said, his hand on his sword, he looked worried about her. Holding onto the railing, Katerina eyed the man before her.
“I am going to help close the rift.” She growled at him. Making him back off.
It wasn't long before they reached the platform. It was black and covered in debris. People headed towards the ship. Screaming, there were poisoned from the gas. The men paused for a moment taking in the ship above them.
“The Goddess made it to her ship!! She is going to destroy the rift!” One said pointing up towards the sky. ]
“She needs to hurry!”“We don't have much time!”Many people talked of the goddess. She hoped it was Natsumi. Looking up to where the man pointed, she saw the large airship, it was just missing a magic missile.
“That's her.” She said with a smirk.
"Why wouldn't she have an airship. She has every other animal known to man." The wolf demon thought to herself."Try not to kill anyone!" She heard someone yell. Jumping over the railing, she ran into the crowed of people like everyone else. They wanted to kill them.
"Don't you touch my wife!""MONSTERR!!!""You Bastard!!""You came here to kill me, think again!"Many things left the mouths of the attackers. They were hallucinating. She needed to find a way to not kill them just knocked them out or injure them. That was it. She needed to disable them.
One of the women took a swing at her. Grabbing her by the throat, a shock ran though her, making her drop to the ground.
"That works." Katerina whispered looking down at her hand that was sparking. Using her new found power, she starting to send a electrical shock through the people to have them knock out. Hopefully, they would stay down. A frown crossed her lips, a few people didn't like the charge. The action made their heart stop.
"Shit.." She cursed under her breath but kept fighting.
Author: Moliira, Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 3:22 PM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
Circling the skies on the back of her new friend, the drow had an amused smile. Just a few weeks past, she had been here, sensing the taint of demons. With the help of another, the cult had been contained and the gateway limited. But in her haste, the Huntress had missed something. It wasn't the first time, and it likely wouldn't be the last. The ice dragon was smart, and kept her distance. They spoke mind to mind, the winds were too great to allow for vocal communication.
"So just what do you think that is, lady?" the dragon asked, staying far enough away to avoid the spells.
But after a few minutes, the spells seemed to shift focus, heading for a new target. A strange looking ship was heading for the massive fortress. It was a reprieve, giving the drow time to answer.
"I do not know. But it destroys the land below, and that is an affront to me," she answered. Drawing her bow, Moliira nudged her companion to move in closer to the flying city-sized ship. Sokanon obliged, knowing what the drow wanted. There had to be some kind of weakness, something that she could exploit. But they had to get just a little closer…
Then she saw it. The spell-cannons spitting out the nasty looking bolts were on some kind of swiveling platform. There was something familiar about the city-ship, but just now she couldn't place it. And now definitely wasn't the time to try and figure it out. Arrows of ice started slamming into the cannons, slowing their assault on the mysterious ship and the island below. she trusted her companion to keep them out of danger, and Moliira had a fierce smile on her face. This was quite fun.
Author: CodeNat, Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 12:59 AM, Post Subject: Breach[Event][Open][R]
After her sojourn into Tarishitar, Natsumi arrived at ground zero on the island of Bakulaw. She had expected to find something or someone related to her tormentor there. Instead, she found complete desolation. The area directly underneath the breach looked nothing like the verdant landscape of Bakulaw. Instead, it was charred, shadowed by a looming fortress in the sky similar in scale to Tarishitar itself.
"Well, that's troubling," the winged fox said while straining her neck to look up at the monstrosity. She spoke to no one in particular, and rubbed the back of her head in dismay.
"We're gonna need a lot of firepower to bring that thing down." Just as she made this comment, the Goddess saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. A powerful bolt spell was cast down at her from above, and she barely managed to dodge it in time. Her roll to the side of the impact spared her body, even it singed her cloak.
She might have retaliated in the aftermath of this unwarranted assault, but, unfortunately, she was shortly tangled up in metallic tendrils shooting out from the soot.
"What in Revaliir?" Natsumi struggled in vain against her bindings. For some reason she was unable to break free, and the tendrils quickly dragged her into a human sized container of some kind. Her bum rested on a seat of unknown material, and an odd terminal of indeterminate design came alive in front of her face with the thrum of magic.
"Welcome back, Natsumi," the screen soon displayed as a malleable, silvery substance became enveloping the Fox like a suit. Her entire body, save for her head, was rapidly covered in the material, making her stiff and vulnerable. This transformation somehow allowed the machine to speak through Kino, and so all future communication became oral instead of visual.
"It has been REDACTED years since you last used the SHADOW FOX. This length of inactivity mandates revival procedures. They will take 30 seconds, approximately. Please standby." Quite desperate to move, the Goddess struggled against the suit that contained her.
"We don't have 30 seconds," she shouted as spells similar to the one from before started bombarding her location! Whoever was firing was apparently not that accurate, even if their attacks were strong enough to shake the ship Natsumi was inside without direct hits. At least, it seemed like a ship. Whatever Natsumi had stepped into had a flat, aerodynamic shell. It almost seemed like an airship, but most airships in Revaliir weren't composed of metal. Regardless, it wasn't long before the Ice Queen's attacker stopped missing.
A single shot was fired on a direct course with the Shadow Fox, all while Natsumi was unable to move. It definitely would've hit her had her ship not spoken up at the last second.
"All SHADOW FOX systems online! Turning over control to you, captain." With but a singular thought to flee running through her mind, Natsumi and her ship were suddenly propelled forward at the last, possible moment. The black vessel let out a loud boom as it accelerated into the air, narrowly missing the magic missile spell from before. It was a tight escape in an airship Natsumi had sworn she'd never flown before, and, while she survived because of it, narrow escapes wouldn't do much against the metallic island in the sky.
