Auth shakes his head, unsurprised that a bombing run didn't outright kill it. Still, it was relatively effective.

AUTH: Well, that was moderately effective. I think our first course of action should be to strip its armour. If you saw, the bombing run from the airship blew some of it off... hm...
AUTH: Bombing, huh...

Auth decided it will be smart to search the inventory for some other high explosive, he finds the Ballistreec Missile. Well, this seems like a good a use as any for an antimatter missile. Auth picks it up, and begins to fly into the air.

AUTH: Can you two keep it distracted? I've got a plan, but I want to make sure I hit the right spot. It will probably work regardless, but it doesn't hurt to make sure.

With, presumably, Nana and Taeda pinging the mobile home with tiny damage numbers, Auth floats higher in the air, watching carefully. Auth begins to wrap the trunk of the tree in ink, and lowers it from both his hands a bit. His intention, all things going according to plan, is to slam the tree into the part of the house that had its armour blown off. Once Auth is pretty sure he has it in range...

He begins to spin in the air, like a top, and move towards the house. Auth is careful, as he approaches, not to let the tree hit too early. When he gets to the right position, right next to the weak point, Auth smashes the missile into the Mobile Home. Logically, this should cause the missile to detonate, devastating the mobile home to death.

As ever, Auth will probably come out of the experience none the worse for wear. There'll be plenty of chunks of... stuff everywhere, though. That might be a bit of a mess to clean up. But, also, probably not his problem for now.

---

Back with Redbud, Auth delivers a report.

AUTH: Alrighty, I've got a place. Omo's office, near the top of the third shelf from the left.
AUTH: She said she didn't leave spell manuals out because it would be problematic... and that they can't leave the library! Please respect that.
AUTH: Otherwise... I'll be back with them in but a moment.

Auth flies over to Omo's office, recalling the battle conducted there recently. Auth proceeds to fly to the top of the third bookshelf from the left, looking for those healing magic manuals he told Omo he was looking for. Auth does keep his eyes peeled for anything else that might be interesting, it can't hurt to look with a fresh set of eyes.

Once he's collected them, he carries them over to Redbud and the other Scarlets.

AUTH: Careful with them, but... well, you know where they go, I believe there's nothing to worry about. Anything else I can do to help out? Otherwise, I'll be off.

---

In the Skylabs, Auth takes a moment to flutter around the place where they've landed, resuscitating any Spiders he sees beat to hell. He also remembers the Rotting Widow thrown from the deck, and tries to help it get back up if it hasn't made it up itself yet. He thinks to himself that having the spiders there might be something of a comfort to Hersilia while they look for this Chi person. After that...

Auth floats into the reception hall, where an extremely panicked Receptionist is observing. This situation will require a careful, considerate attitude. Perhaps some other chairians might help... but that's neither here nor there. Auth stays near the entrance, as requested, as not to intimidate the poor thing.

AUTH: Good morning! We have no intentions of hurting you, there's nothing to be afraid of. We're just passing through the hall.
AUTH: Please excuse us. Hopefully we won't be in the labs too long. We have some assistance we intend to deliver in regards to a patient here - Acacia. We think we have something that might help out.
AUTH: I apologise if our sudden appearance might have scared you, but I promise there's nothing to be scared of.

"Oh, nice. A grape jam tree."

Bauhaus walks away from the purple sap tree with a satisfied look on his face. He walks into the Skylabs building proper. By that, I mean he walks right into the door. After mildly recoiling in pain, he notices the card reader next to the door. He summons the Level 1 access card from the inventory because apparently that is a thing he can do, and has it scanned.

Woodthorne awkwardly pets the spiders, unsure of what else to really do.

Woodthorne: I've tamed a lot of creatures before, but spiders are kind of new territory for me...
Woodthorne: Whatever the case may be, I'm glad to have them as friends instead of enemies.

Later, in the house proper, he takes some time to clean himself up a bit, showering and making his hair (which to this point has been quite matted) at least a bit more presentable, and then goes to the kitchen, grabbing two slices of french toast and a helping of eggs.

(OOC Statwork: Replacing Twin Bolts with First Aid)

<ROUND 240>

Pionobot intercepts the Receptionist! A block of ice manifests itself around the button before the Receptionist can even think about lunging for it. She turns to the button, realizing that she's now properly out of options. She ducks beneath the desk, huddling in a ball beneath it. Pionobot stops a short distance from the now "vacant" desk, greeting the receptionist. They won't hurt her as long as she doesn't call in anyone. Poking her head out from behind the desk, she nods.

RECEPTIONIST: O-Okay...
RECEPTIONIST: I'll just... sit tight.

Soon enough, she pulls herself back onto her wheeled office chair, hands placed on her lap. He can't help but notice that the area around her seems... minty fresh, somehow? Maybe it's perfume. Whatever. He asks the question- where could they find Chi?

RECEPTIONIST: Chi?
RECEPTIONIST: W-Well, I don't really want to get the info b-beaten out of me, s-so...
RECEPTIONIST: They're just-

Boom! An explosion echoes from the northern hallway. There's the loud REEEEEEing of a creature, probably an Iti. A look of panic crosses the Receptionist's face, and they're back under the desk in a flash. From down there, she keeps speaking.

RECEPTIONIST: P-Probably just down the hall, there!
RECEPTIONIST: T-There's been reports of a breach in the Lab's defenses, and s-sir Cypress and his secretary are out there, f-fighting...
RECEPTIONIST: Can't miss them. Probably. I don't know.

Still huddled below the desk, she mutters something to herself quietly.

RECEPTIONIST: I-I should've faked being sick all those days ago. Then maybe I could still be at home, taking naps n' gorilla, instead of needing to worry about gigantic snake things crashing through the front door and killing me...
RECEPTIONIST: O-On the other hand, the Labs are just a really, really nice place to be...

She remains hidden under the desk. Meanwhile, back in the Rosen Catacombs, Not!Echoss eats a desk. He probably doesn't actually eat it, but it enters the inventory regardless. It transforms into a simple 12 Bronzewood, due to the runes having been painted over.

He also goes to fight a house, but perhaps we'll cover that once we get to Auth's post? Finally, Not!Echoss nudges the Sleuth, getting him to go scan a Siren. While he runs off to do that, he goes and scans a currently conscious Hersilia. She turns towards the existent(?) figure, glaring at him.

HERSILIA: H-Hey!
HERSILIA: It's impolite to scan me without m-my permission...
OMORIKA: My apologies.
OMORIKA: However, every bit of information does help our cause... and you did oppose us, so...
HERSILIA: Mhm, alright...

>Codex Updated! (x2)

---

Boshi's... not all that large Daycare Service does some stuff. To begin, Boshi hands the Fisherman an Ice Blaster. He examines the weapon, methodically fiddling with the trigger.

FISHERMAN: Hm. Thanks.
FISHERMAN: Hopefully, I won't need to use it.

Their trip to the Peaceful Riverbank is slow and steady, not attracting much in the way of attention. Sure, a few Sapsqueals poke their heads from the woods and watch the vessel go by, but that's about it. As they arrive, the duo notice a rather large fire terrorizing part of the woods. Boshi breaks out a Cloud Cannon, and is quick to suppress the fire with a torrential rainstorm.

FISHERMAN: Oh, is that a Cloud Cannon? I believe Cypress designed it himself.
FISHERMAN: ...I won't question where you found it.
FISHERMAN: Surely, it was obtained through reputable means.

He then proceeds to help unload the boat, the Fisherman placing as much of the gear as he can onto a makeshift wagon he's manipulated into existence.

FISHERMAN: Thank you again for your help, Boshi.
FISHERMAN: Perhaps we'll meet again later?

As the Fisherman prepares to set off, Adria and Chloe rush outside, running towards the Mobile Home in the distance to engage it in combat! Like with Pionobot though, that'll be handled when we get around to Auth's post! Next, within the Everground, Hannah decides to directly attack the Rock Face! Yew fires a volley of arrows directly into the the center of the mouth. Suddenly, the cavern rumbles, and a groan of pain begins to echo out of the maw! This also coincides with a deluge of poisonous gas spewing out of the maw! While Hannah's not very vulnerable to poison, it's starting to become hard to breathe...

Finally, out in the Sky Labs, Hannah suggests to the Sleuth that he sets up an audio recording device. He throws one out on the ground, and begins recording.

THE SLEUTH: The detective begins to speak into the device.
THE SLEUTH: "I doubt this will reveal anything new" he says, skepticism filling his voice.
THE SLEUTH: Soon enough, the recording period ends.

He then does a playback. It sounds about how one would expect. The Sleuth doesn't seem to notice anything weird.

THE SLEUTH: What was meant to be proven by this test?
THE SLEUTH: All he could hear was the line about his doubts.
THE SLEUTH: The thoughts of people listening in to what was going on within his head was truly preposterous.

...No, Hannah could 100% hear the whole dialogue. As she sighs, she decides to put some time into respeccing. -Pop Pop (x3), +8 INT, resistance edited, and spells rotated!

---

Daskter +2's his MHP, and -1's his SPC. Not much else to say here.

---

Venia interogates Yew for information on Magnolia's father. The bow blinks at her. Once, twice. The, she begins to laugh and cackle, possibly ignoring Hannah's orders.

YEW: You're a funny one!
YEW: Why would I tell you of his whereabouts?
YEW: Especially after you were so rude to me, threatening to dismantle me.

YEW: Besides, he is a lovely person. I won't tell you anything, miss.
YEW: So hush.

Meanwhile, within the Old Pass, Venia prepares to use Noxious Plume on some Fell Beasts! Is that basically the go-to Fell Beast killing tool now? I dunno. By using magical runes, she's able to delay Noxious Plume, delaying it until after she's walled off the area. From back up the ladder, she can hear the scraping of claws, and the desperate barking of the beasts. The wall chips and crumbles as the beasts coordinate bashes against the wall. But unfortunately, the poison is too much for them, and they succumb before the wall vanishes automatically. Venia sits around for some time, waiting for the gas to waft out. Eventually, it does... at least, probably enough for it to be survivable. It might pay to bring a gas mask.

Finally, Venia dispenses some water from thin air, filling up a multitude of chalices. Bass consumes chalice after chalice, just about keeping up with Venia's rate of production. Soon enough, he's had his fill.

BASS: okay thanks
BASS: lots of water
BASS: good water
BASS: whew

Bass clears his throat, pondering on the events of last night.

BASS: yeah last night was rough
BASS: lots of dreams
BASS: lots and lots of dreams
BASS: although all of them felt strangely familiar
BASS: i was at the theater most of the time
BASS: nothing weird or exceptional happened, nothing dream-like
BASS: but it felt like... normal days of my life?
BASS: i'm not sure if they ever happened, though

He helps himself to another chalice of water. He also may or may not be building a tower out of them as he empties the glasses. While that's going on, up a floor, Maria approaches Chaos, asking Chaos if he has a birthday present.

CHAOS: happy bir[t]hday???

Chaos slams a banana onto the shop counter. It has one of those fancy present flower-ribbon things on it. Across the peel, the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA" have been scribbled. He then realizes that he mentally blocked out the latter half of Maria's sentence- does he have a birthday present for Ette? He ponders it for a moment, his sprite's y-axis flipping as he thinks.

CHAOS: ohhhh, for e[t][t]e
CHAOS: wai[t] righ[t] i[t] is her [c]akeday and i don'[t] have any[t]hing
CHAOS: uhhhhhhhh

Chaos's sprite's x-axis now flips.

CHAOS: maria i need help
CHAOS: i need you [t]o figure ou[t] wha[t] e[t][t]e wan[t]s for her bir[t]hday
CHAOS: you'll need [t]o be s[t]ealthy
CHAOS: like a ninja
CHAOS: bu[t] sneakier
CHAOS: [t]he informa[t]ion you ge[t] from e[t][t]e is essen[t]ial for [t]he rebellion's su[c][c]ess
CHAOS: and [t]he quali[t]y of e[t][t]e's bir[t]hday

CHAOS: ge[t] [t]he info, and we [c]an bo[t]h give her some[t]hing ni[c]e
CHAOS: okay?
CHAOS: i'll pay you fif[t]y [c]redi[t]s

Another 50 credits have been taped to Maria's forehead. Who's doing that? Certainly not Chaos. He's always innocent. His alibi is that at this moment in time, he was caught taping credits to Maria's forehead, so it couldn't have been him.

---

The Reflector does a few things. First, they stick the Maxim-infested Core into the body they created. Once inside, Maxim automatically closes up the hole where the insertion point was, morphing wood into place to hold itself and the core in. Maxim begins to get a feel for the body, walking about aimlessly. A bladed tendril shoots from the body, wrapping itself around the Thought-to-Text slate, and pulling it into its hand.

MAXIM: (INTEGRATION SUCCESSFUL.)
MAXIM: (WHAT NOW?)

Elsewhere, up in the Sky Labs, the Reflector opts to hop right into the ventilation! There is however, a horde of angry spiders in the way! Hersilia reaches out to them.

HERSILIA: Y-You three, please... get out of the way!
HERSILIA: You can't face them...

Without another word, the spiders jump up onto the wall of the labs themselves, and climb on up. With them out of the way, the Reflector is free to throw themselves into the vents. They're surprisingly large, allowing for them to crawl freely, and quickly!

...Unfortunately for them, they catch a glimpse of something else in the vents. A long, snaking, pointed tail. From around a corner, a spider leg is thrown into view, completely stripped of flesh. It appears that they're not alone.

- = S T R I F E ! = -

---

Destiny examines a hologram! While it doesn't seem to be intractable, and mostly just there for show, there's a few useful pieces of information she can pick up! Namely, the main structure of the Sky Labs. It seems that up ahead, to the north, is a larger hub area. Go further north from there, and you can access a highly secured central structure. There's bound to be something valuable in there! And, like how there's the Southern Bay the party arrived at, there's a Northern Bay, an Eastern Bay, and a Western Bay.

The Receptionist pokes their head out from behind the desk.

RECEPTIONIST: D-Don't touch the model!
RECEPTIONIST: That's for display purposes only!
RECEPTIONIST: If you're looking for information, a-all you need to know is that the Northern Bay is completely closed off!
RECEPTIONIST: T-They say that an outsider boy has taken total control of the northern section of the labs, a-and that he's getting scarily close to breaching the central building...
RECEPTIONIST: Steer clear, alright?
RECEPTIONIST: And stop touching the model!

Boop. Back behind the desk she goes. With that out of the way, Destiny proceeds to touch the model more, making use of the table the holographic projector is on to do some crafting! She slaps together the Empress's Praetorians and the Watcher's Robes, using the Raw Thymium and her Regal Enforcers for the weapon, and the Watcher's Garments, 2 Bouquet Dimensions, 7 Fireproof Silkweave, 1 Gazyer Maw, and 3.323x10^16 Liar's Flesh for the armor!

---

Brutishace attempts to de-escalate with the Receptionist. Calm down. Don't press the button. She wouldn't want the paperwork. From behind the desk, she speaks.

RECEPTIONIST: Well, the button's already frozen, but... paperwork sucks.
RECEPTIONIST: Y-Yeah. No paperwork means maybe I'd get to go home earlier...

...Uh, seems she's convinced, in some weird way. He also -1's his SKI, and gets a +1 to STR.

---

Auth declares war against a house! Adria, Chloe, and Pionobot close in on the Mobile Home's location, preparing for what'll likely be a messy, bloody combat! Auth then indicates to his two followers that he has a plan. For now, just distract the thing with light arms fire!

TAEDA: W-Whatever you say!
NANA: Y-You can do it, A-Auth!

Auth floats up into the air, reaches into the inventory, and just sorta chunks the Ballistreec Missile at it. A very small .jpeg explosion appears on the surface of the Mobile Home. Suddenly and violently, roughly half of the Mobile Home's innards burst out all over the party, shooting out as fountains from the windows and doors. Nana and Taeda are treated to the deluge of Thyme Matter, getting soaked in the stuff.

Soon enough, the Mobile Home flops over backwards, the house breaking apart as it impacts the ground. Mobile Home slain!

TAEDA: ...
NANA: W-Wow! I-Incredible!
NANA: H-How'd you do that?
TAEDA: Bluh, this stuff is sticky...
TAEDA: You did a great job, though!
TAEDA: I guess all we need to do now is handle the body, and we can be off to the chapel!

Despite saying that, it's clear that Taeda has no idea how they'll clean this thing up. House fragments, a few tons of dead Iti... this'll be a logistical nightmare! Or they could just throw it in the inventory. That'd probably work, too. Elsewhere, Auth informs Redbud where she might find the scrolls she wants. He even goes out of his way to grab them for her, finding what seems to be a low-tier spell scroll. He gifts it to her.

REDBUD: Wow! You really found it!
REDBUD: I'll be sure to study hard and make you proud, Mr. Healer!

He then asks if there's anything else she needs. She shakes her head.

REDBUD: Nah, not really.
REDBUD: You've already done so much for us, y'know?

With that out of the way, Auth turns to leave. Redbud waves him goodbye.

REDBUD: Thank you, sir Author! We'll be forever grateful for your help!
REDBUD: We'll sing praises of you in myth and legend, except they'll be true!
REDBUD: Go forth Author, and save this world!
REDBUD: ...That's what you're doing, right? I don't know.
REDBUD: Nonetheless, good luck! And safe travels!

Finally, Auth decides to tend to some business at the Sky Labs. He revives two of the Splinter Spitters, and goes off to look for the Rotting Widow that was thrown off the Sky Labs. It's nowhere to be found, though- maybe it already made it to safety? Looks like there's a few vents and such below the island as well.

He then flocks on over to the Reception Hall, where he tries to calm the Receptionist. Once more, she pokes her head up from behind the table, listening to him. Once he's done speaking, she sits herself back on her chair, taking many a deep breath.

RECEPTIONIST: I... guess you're really all just passing through, aren't you?
RECEPTIONIST: If you wanted me dead, you'd have shot me by now.
RECEPTIONIST: G-Go on ahead, a-alright? Just leave me alone, a-and try and make sure I don't get fired!

She sits quietly, her eyes occasionally drifting to the still-frozen button. Does it even work anymore? Who knows.

---

Bauhaus enters the Sky Labs. Great success!

---

Woodthorne pets some spiders. The spiders chitter calmly. One of them rubs against his hand. It'd be cute, if it weren't for the fact that his hands were only inches away from its poisonous jaws. Or maybe it still is cute. Depends on how afraid you are of getting bit. He also rotates Twin Bolts for First Aid. The spiders seem to approve of this choice, somehow having observed it.

---

<WESTERN WING VENTILATION, ROUND ONE>
Tight corridors, with little in the way of open battlegrounds. Lasers and melee attacks will dominate here, while rangers may find their options limited. The Xenos also have an oppressive amount of damage, so be sure to have your tanks up front, unless they rely on DGE. It's hard to avoid attacks while in a vent! The Console in the room to the north may also be of interest, so give that a look? Freezing the Xenos on a key round could be vital to success!

Western Wing Ventilation
Move to U15, Toxin Coat (Poison), Spirit Blade (Mana Leech), wait for Woodthorne, open fire on Lamia2.

West Wing Ventilation

Woodthorne spawns in at W17 and moves to V15. He casts Nature's Wrath on Generic, and then uses Tend on them, granting them a stack of Emboldened.

STATISTICS

Maxim receives Ally statistics, I think. Now inside a more permanent body, they probably have a build with high slashing damage close-range attacks, decently high AC and HP, and the ability to pull enemies over to them using body-shifting / bladed tendrils. Nana's basic attacks are a good baseline for Maxim's. (In short, tankier and more controlling rather than their previous deal high damage, ditch the body gameplan.) As for trait and special... The trait can perhaps involve spawning a Symbiote-spell-like mini-Maxim (made out of spare Liar's Flesh) that can be attached to enemies as well as allies? And the special could involve taking complete control of the symbiote's target for the round.

---

BATTLES

The Reflector spawns at W17, moves to W14, uses a bonus action to Shields Holding (Divine Shield version) themselves, and casts Mirror Image on W15.

They also attempt to yoink Maxim into the vents if their statblock is finished. It's about time for a trial run of that new body.

Recollection Lake - Boshi

"(Hey, no prob. Safe travels, alright?)"

As the fisherman leaves, Boshi puts all of his findings about the rebels and tabletopians together. Their methods of debilitating their enemies were extremely similar; burning and blowing up farms with unusually advanced technology that has less to do with magic than regular Chairians... and what better way to get around the Thymefield than to hire locals dissatisfied with the rule of the current Highchair?

Oh yes, it's all coming together.

Once the Fisherman's out of sight, Boshi looks to the skies. He pulls out a telescope, and looks around for the dropship, mechonis, and Vedfolnir that were flying away. As it was likely a powerful telescope, he's easily able to pinpoint their location until they go into a cloud or something. At which point Boshi drives off back to the lake, traveling further down it, railguns at the ready.

---

House - Adria

Adria looks at the destroyed house in disbelief. "Good grief, I didn't even need to do anything! ...B-but someone has to clean up the mess... does anyone have some sort of vacuum?"

She looks at the three that were here before her. Odd how they were out here; there didn't seem to be much in the way of things of note.

"...What were you all doing out here, anyway?"

---

Everground - Hannah

When the mouth starts spewing poison, Hannah works out what she's dealing with. "...So whatever's shot into it, it changes what it blows out? I mean, I'm pretty sure we didn't shoot that much poison into there..."

"...I-it's getting hard to breathe... what do I do..."

She takes a look back. Not only were all her exits blocked off, the room was starting to become completely devoid of oxygen, and filled with poison gas, due to said blockage. It's at this moment that she realizes she has to get out of here and take a break.

Hannah jumps out of her durasteel boots, and uses her aerodynamic shield to help push her back up to the ledge, to safety. She pushes through the rubble at (L165) with the Heavenpiercing Drill while riding the shield like a surfboard in an attempt to escape.

---

Skylabs - Hannah, but again

Hannah indeed sighs, facepalming. "It was worth a shot... l-let's just... let's just go with that 'magic of the planet/universe' trope and call it a day. We've got other things to worry about."

...However, it looks like she's bothered by something else. And it wasn't Venia this time. She feels like she messed up, despite Venia's reassurances, in a way nobody could have thought of. She quickly shakes it off, so she doesn't appear to be the one that messed up. And so she doesn't actively think about it.

Hannah does take a little time to eavesdrop on Venia's conversation with her bow after this, though. From what it sounds like, Yew said something dumb. Didn't she tell her not to do anything stupid!? Well, at least it won't be strictly her fault for Yew getting dismantled... it'd still hurt, though. However, one of Venia's lines... "I've harmed and killed too much"... what was that about? Who had she killed, other than Rose Cult people and monsters? Nobody who didn't deserve it, she hopes. Hannah couldn't help but wonder if she'd end up like her one day... eh, probably not.

...She slips away and approaches the maintenance hatch, examining it for some sort of weak point, like a hinge or something similar. Perhaps she could corrode it off without needing the keycard.

The Skylabs

Venia narrows her eyes at the Whispering Bow. She breathes in, out. Of course. The hard way it is. "Because I wasn't joking about sealing you in a block of concrete?"

Another deep breath. "... I don't want to. It's dumb. It's wasteful. It's amoral. It's a loss of face. I want to feel good about myself. I'm tired of it-I've harmed and killed too much, all that's left when I do it now is a dull chill in my chest. I can keep going on and on why I'd rather not resort to malice over kindness here. But you won't even delay me if I push myself to get what I want, not even a little. Bit cliche to say, but... Your resistance is futile."

"So, about Magnolia's daddy dearest, you'll be telling me and the others all about that, right?" Venia says.

Regardless of the response, Venia walks north and initiates whatever battle is there to have over there. But not before shouting down Cypress and his copatriot.

"Hey! Cypress! Uh, is your buddy over there Stella Chi, perchance? We're looking for her, Hersilia's gotten poisoned bad. We got the worst of it out of her but she still needs care, and Hersilia recommended her."

---

The Old Pass

Venia transiently switches out her current gear for gear that gives her more than 100% poison resistance, immunizing her to the status effect as a consequence, then un-terraforms whatever barricades remain, loots the Fell Beast's dead bodies for their stuff, and claims the weapons cache for herself.

---

Bass

"I think given what I've seen in your Mindscape that you might be, well uh, your memories-blended together in typical dreamlike fashion, so probably not exact, but they're unlikely to be complete fabrications, is all." Venia says, handing Bass any more water (or random food) that he may desire.

"... Can you get up, move around? Do you think you'll be in fighting condition anytime soon, or what? If you still need rest, don't hesitate to say as much."

---

Mariaaaaaaaa

Maria salutes Chaos upon his request to be as a ninja, but sneakier, and discover all information regarding Ette's birthday gift preferences. She immediately looks around the main hall, and then gets confounded, realizing that Ette isn't here at this moment in time.

"... Where is Ette, mister Chaos?"

Not!Echoss
Not!Echoss wanders through the Rosen Catacombs and then realizes that aside from the band performance request (which is probably a lost cause at this point) pretty much everything has been looted...
Except for the machine.
Not!Echoss proceeds to dunk a Ration and a Salve into the flux machine out in the hallway, to see what happens.

He also commissions Nia for more upgrade madness:
Upgrades are obtained for:
Divine Hammer of Banning
Endless Blizzard


Skylabs
Pionobot moves forwards, and sees the swarm of Iti. He looks back at the hover chairs and gets an idea.

Abruptly, in the main room, one of the hover chairs barrels into the Vilebaron, overloaded with electrical power. Pionobot hops off of it up into the air as it collides, switching Armistyx into FATALITY-mode. Meanwhile, the hover chair begins to pulse more power into its 'engines' trying to get through the bile baron. This isn't successful, but causes it to dig into the Bilebaron's flesh. The electrical overload finally gets too much and sends arcs of electricity crackling through the chair and the bilebaron before the chair finally gives out and explodes.
The Bilebaron staggers, just in time for Pionobot to come down on it with Armistyx, splattering it across the floor. He swaps back into a more normal weapon configuration and waves at Cypress and the person with him, before turning around to prep for the battle that's likely just been triggered.


The Mobile Home
At the mobile home Pionobot just sorta stares at the remains of the house. Well. That was fast.

"Dschingh-, Dschingh-, Dschinghis Khan,
He Reiter, ho Reiter, he Reiter, immer weiter!
Dschingh-, Dschingh-, Dschinghis Khan,
He Männer, ho Männer, tanzt Männer, so wie immer!
Und man hört ihn lachen, oh ho ho ho ho!
Immer lauter lachen, ah ha ha ha ha!
Und er leert den Krug in einem Zug..."

"Mikeru, could you turn that off?"

With a disdainful, yet composed sigh, the Maybe-Emperor of Ancients launched himself at the opposing side of the room, where the SANGEAN WR-11 AM/FM tabletop radio whose broadcast he was enjoying stood in dignified loneliness. Despite the little argument between Joseph and him all those definitely-months ago, Mikeru didn't really give up on researching and seeking to comprehend "human culture" - that is, all 108+ distinct concepts which bore that unified name. Unsurprisingly, the medium he chose to learn it through was music, the one thing he had the most experience with. The second most natural way of expressing oneself (right after violence) of every living being, and perhaps reality itself; when properly organised, able to carry any conceivable message, and when spontaneous, acting as a direct link to one's past, present and temporally fixed state. What could feasibly be called one's soul.

But unfortunately for him, the Witch does not care for his audiophlia, or his delight in learning, or his marvel at how a horse-riding warlord can be regarded as both a bloodthirsty monstrosity and an absolute chad by different people. When on duty, the Witch only cares that her orders be efficiently executed within 0.7 seconds of them being given. Due to his entranced state and resulting grogginess, Lord Mikeru failed the assignment and was subsequently pulverised by a blast of formless magical energy, alongside the rest of that half of the room. Of course, as an Ancient, his scattered essence would reform without a hitch within the next day and a half or so, and even without that bonus he could simply be resurrected through Endless Magic in the matter of minutes. All in all, this was not an unlawful murder, but a reminder of his obligations and affiliation, so put your mind at ease.

As for the stern and vitriolic Witch of Strife herself, she was, simply put, suffering. On one side of the scale, she was burdened with paperwork the likes of which one could only find in Dlanor A. Knox' nightmares. The petty little feud between the Lawful Lawful bureaucrat Mᴜʀᴀsᴀᴋɪ and the inscrutably named Easy/Eᴀsʏ/EASY/E.A.S.Y., that damned lovechild of Homura Akemi and Koko Hekmatyar, had escalated into an equally petty yet far further reaching conflict. One that would probably make for a great DTGlike spinoff game were it not for the ever-shifting web of alliances that held all belligerent worlds in a tight grip. As it happens, said nightmarish web of twisting accords requires a historian and recordkeeper to write it down in full, so that every change is monitored and archived. As it also happens, the majestic Witch of Theatergoing, Drama and Spectating, Great Lady Fᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀɪɴᴇ Aᴜɢᴜsᴛᴜs Aᴜʀᴏʀᴀ, assigned that post to our not-so-dear Francia.

This would've been bearable enough on its own, but the fact is that this made up only half of her workload: More important (not to mention infuriating) than the politics of existent Witches was the prospect of new ones coming into existence as the result of the unofficial war. As it happens once more for clarity, a good majority of the Senate is too busy looking after their own stakes in the ordeal to go out there and judge which newly hatched Witches deserve to be rightfully recognised as such. To amend this grievous mistake, the merciful goddess Aᴜɢᴜsᴛᴜs Aᴜʀᴏʀᴀ granted a temporary seat in the Senate to the Great Lady Fʀᴀɴᴄɪᴀᴄᴏʀᴛᴀ, burdening her with the duty of acknowledging those who fit her criteria.

And still, this is only one side of the scale. On the other side of it, the Witch was having such struggles with motivation to work, travel, write, move, eat, sleep and exist that it was a genuine miracle how she was still alive - or perhaps we shouldn't use the m-word, considering its association in society both high and low. With each and every minute spent lazing around, she was risking scandal on a scale one would be forgiven for believing existed only in the realm of theoretical possibility. And yet she chose to go on, rotting and procrastinating so much that she even ceased active participation in the games she was a player in, which proved quite disastrous to her Pieces such as Chara. Dear Chara, who was supposed to be the only one aligned with her to act on Sussui. Shame that Joseph had to drop in unannounced, only to break down under pressure and fall into that same limbo of irrelevance. Ah, what a waste! What a waste and a pain to deal with. But it was about time she finally did something about it.

The hateful regent spared a fraction of a moment to look out her window and enjoy the eternal evening sky, before turning back to the mountain of ink and parchment that was now her job. Absentmindedly, her left hand crept toward an elaborate chesslike board beside her, one of its fingers tapping a certain piece that had been gathering dust...

---

...
wake
...
WAKE
...

CHARA: *where am I again...

Too little light. Cannot discern. Where? Cannot.

What happened? Foggy. Hummingbird, guest, echoes. No, Echoss. All? Insufficient. Best run memory recovery.

Quickly.

CHARA: Xšāyaθiyā Vazạrkā, Xšāyaθiyā Xšāyaθiyānām; tuvam tanūva āmātā utā tanūva antar āmātā; hya tya arikacā duruxtacā zūrakaracā hamiçiyacā draujana ragam janataiy; hya arštāyācā vahauš puça; hya šiyātim adā martiyahyā; vayam θuvām jadamahaiy! Kārānām framātarā vazạrkā, tuvam artāvā; θuvām ufraštādiy jadamahaiy, yaθā dātataiy hašiyam naiy duruxtam!

CODE

—＜✧＞—✦—✫—✶—✫—✦—✧— INCANTATION ACCEPTED. INITIATING IDENTITY RECOVERY. 诸神畏避，夜有鬼哭。 — —��—✺—⛤—⛧—＜❀＞—✡—

- And all at once, the memories hit Chara right in the head. There really isn't a better way of describing it - if they were sitting upright, they surely would've fallen back down, as if someone threw a rock at them. Firstdecomeattheh memoriestoof Stheirʜᴇownʙᴀpast, before the deal was struck. Their earliest days in the CF. Following that, the most troublesome part of all: the full memories of each and every single alternate self they had assimilated to date. This one actually causes miniature spasms in Chara's body, not that they can afford to care. But when the sorting of those is done, all that remains is the timespan from then til this moment.

All in all, the full memory recovery process takes two turns to fully conclude. By that time, the justifiably confused U.T. operator gives out some helpful info as to the Piece's very whereabouts, enabling them to immediately regain their five senses instead of having to wait another turn. At that, they mumble out a "thanks" in a barely audible voice.

Despite now at least knowing where they last were, and what they last did, Chara is still utterly befuddled by how they'd gotten here (and, on a less important but still present note, who tucked them into the bed). Did they pass out from a lack of sleep? Quite shameful, for one such as them, but at least they can defend their pride by blaming the Thymefield for making their body all feeble and human. Ah well, they can always try whipping up some nonsense and "retroactively sleeping." Logic is dead as a dodo anyway.

Just as they start to wonder what they're even supposed to do at this current point, their hand brushes against something that clearly isn't the blanket. Immediately un-burritoing themselves, the Apprentice Witch discovers that the formerly neatly lodged object is... an envelope. The mere sight of it has their heart skip a beat, as their mind races to think of all the possible authors, and what their intentions might be. With a light tremour, they reach out and flip the envelope - only to be met with horrifyingly garish decorative swirls. Just from that, without even immediately noticing the seal and the two monograms, it is immediately made clear that the message is from Francia. Just above the seal bearing the Corte Francia's coat of arms is a short inscription. Simplified Qemesian hieroglyphs, they instantaneously recognise. "ASAP."

With a torturous slowness, clearly out of pure spite, they break the seal and extract the letter from within.



As if drawn by a magnet, the palm of Chara's left hand soon finds itself resting firmly against their face.
Good god, the audacity of this bitch.

Destiny simply nods at the Receptionist and walks up to the Eastern Hub.
Such a mess the Iti have made here. I guess we will have to clean it up.

WESTERN WING VENTILATION:

Remiel spawns in at S17, moves to O14, and selfcasts Zillycharm, clouding their form. They draw their claymore and prepare for the Predator's attack. Raindrop That Fell to the Sky active.

(If the Predator moves out of my ZoC, it gets Traced by my weapon passive.)

Bauhaus waves at the Receptionist! "Hello, miss!" He walks down the hall, and looks at the Holodeck for a bit. His attention is then caught by the Hoverseats. He decides to ride the damaged one because "it's got personality!"

Brutishace hears the commotion in the Eastern Hub and turns to the receptionist.

"I'll investigate that and save you some trouble. Wouldn't want to fill out more paperwork, or suffer a worse fate. Please try not to get killed, alright?"

With that said, Brutishace moves to the right of the desk, Necrotic Arcana Pistol at the ready, peeking his head over the corner while trying to keep himself hidden from the Iti intruders.

(Also, the Necrotic Arcana Pistol still scales with INT, feel free to change it to just scale with STR, and the weapon scale can scale with STR at a half-rate)

~~

Asha spawns at S17, moves to O15 and uses Tumbling Walls! She sends rubble tumbling down from I16, N12, S9, and V11! She then retreats to P15. This gives her +2 Might and +1 Magic.

Irongutta puts 2 KP into HP and 1 into AGI!

Battle: West Wing Ventilation
Irongutta spawns at S17 and shuffles on over to O15. There, he buffs Remiel and himself with Fury! He also targets Predator3 with the Turbo Magezappa Lens.

Crystal assigns his skillpoint to HP, bringing him up to 68.

He then spawns at S17 in the Western Wing Ventilation, moves to Q13, and executes a basic attack/War Scythe combo on Predator3, moving back to R13 with War Scythe and then retreating to S12.

Pope Bill assigns 1 skillpoint to his HP.

He spawns in, moves to W14 and basic-attacks the Predator5 on W11! He also grows a Pustule.

With the issue of the Mobile Home thoroughly resolved, Auth pulls out a portable broom and begins to sweep the remains of the enormous Iti into the Inventory. Surely much of its construction will come in useful later on. Or, at least, it will be out of the way.

AUTH: Quite simple. Acquire resources from inventory, and apply them in an effective manner. I successfully applied what I found. Thank you for keeping the thing distracted so I could hit properly.

It shouldn't be too long before all of the Iti remains are swept away, and Auth then turns back to Nana and Taeda... and some other arrivals.

AUTH: Are you two okay? I know that was messy, are you both feeling alright?
AUTH: Oh, it seems we have some others with us now. Hello.

Auth listens to Adria's question.

AUTH: It's fairly simple. We're heading out to the chapel nearby, so we have an area prepared for a Godblossom I think I've found. We were on our way there, when we found the...
AUTH: That. Once we get to the Chapel, Nana and I are going to go and collect the flower and bring it back.

Auth answers quickly. Seems he really wants to get moving now that the Mobile Home has been resolved.

---

Auth smiles to Redbud's statement about studying and making him proud.

AUTH: I believe in you, Redbud. I believe you can learn how to do this magic.
AUTH: Put your heart into it. I think that's what counts most in this magic aspect. You need to truly believe in yourself and what you're doing.

Auth nods acknowledgement to Redbud's assertion that he's done plenty as it stands.

AUTH: Alright. I don't mind helping out, you know. Don't feel bad asking.

As Auth flies out, he listens to Redbud cheer him on.

AUTH: Saving the world? That's the plan!
AUTH: I'll see you all around, alright? Stay safe! Don't go disappearing on us!

Auth then proceeds to zip over to the next thing he needs to do that day.

---

Auth smiles reassuringly to the Receptionist.

AUTH: Hah, more or less. We'll make sure you keep your job, promise.
AUTH: On a tangentially related note, if we have to pass back through, what's your name? I think it would be more polite to say hello on the way back if we knew how to address you, right?

Auth is trying to relax the Receptionist through Charm. On the lucky chance that he actually gets a name, he nods.

AUTH: Alright, then. I'll see you around, okay? I'm gonna move on. Hopefully everyone's okay up there.

Auth floats through the doors to the Eastern Hub, where he spots Cypress and someone he assume to be Chi. He speaks loudly enough to grab their attention - trying to cross the iti field seems... dangerous.

AUTH: Cypress, yes? We are here to help. We are willing to help you defend the area - retreat is unlikely to be a necessity.

Auth makes sure he is high enough to be seen. They're the cavalry.