In a spurt of anger, I blast a series of runes into the ground, and spill blood into it's surface. A ninth level Divine True Name moves the blood to fill the runes (in appropriate order) that make up the name of The Arbiter.
/RPost
[1x] ah, don't send me back to the battlefield yet. This is still my best lead, even if I know they're not here. Though... If you could transport a replacement symbiote to Ishmael, along with a little something for my own purposes, that would be wonderful. He's been magically crippled by Nera's world's rules, but there are other universes, and the ways to stop their magic can't all be alike. maybe he'll find somewhere better.
The little something for my own purposes? a cobbled together Scanner, ViFi (Void-Wifi) hotspot, and a chunk of crystalized elemental energy of my home's take on the energy element to supercharge it. the ViFi is so it can send its results to me, and the Scanner is to check whether the things I'm looking for have, against all odds, ended up there. If they have... well, I can't say I'll be entirely surprised. So, looking for Cake Guys Other Cake, the Laboratory, or my incomplete Voidship are there.
[1x] I reach into the fuzzball's dimensional pocket and conjure two more fuzzballs, between the sizes of the original fuzzballs. There should only be three more fuzzballs to add in after these...
[1x] hm...
Scrying the future is often impossible (especially your own while a descended, per the early future and my abortive attempt to bootstrap godmodding without even knowing how) and I doubt I can repeat the travel that got me there last time without the conceptual anchor on the other side. But scrying the Past is... pretty easy, I'm going to guess? So I create a 62 spell foci set to target scrying spells one year further back, 11 set up for months back, and 10 for 2 days back. Then I cast a scrying spell to detect the same signals I was just looking for, set to check 62 years in the past; then move drop spell foci until I lose the signal, then pick up the month foci until I regain it, then then drop one and pick up day foci until I figure out when, exactly, my target objects vanished.
Let's see... That's strange. I can't bring anything to Nessus. How come? In the meantime, I'll still bring it to Nerà's Universe, aaaand... nope. Nothing here either, hum. When Karp comes back, I could try sending it to him. How does that sound?
You look into the past, rewatching as Thanos and his Black Order battled for the Infinity Gems against people like Mageye, Despara and Neo. You watch as the Pastry Paladin, now known as Adrian Celstus trade the Power Stone for an impossibly powerful cake. Three people pop in- hold up. That's my father. He never mentioned being here. And who's that comparing gunpower to him? Could it be? Sorry, keep going on. Thanos acquires the Gems, became Thanatos, and dies. Okay. Everyone's milling around, doing their own thing, and then- Surtur arrives? What's even happening here? Despara's fighting Surtur, Adrian throws him into space? Woah. Let's see, he stores his things away, and leaves. So what happened next? There's two-month gap where your items were, and where they disappeared afterwards. Your scrying makes out only glimpses of what happens in this period. Masked men in unmarked armour healing the land, surveying the battlefield, picking up artifacts and fragments left behind. Near the end of this strange interference, a man in Yellow can be seen helping out, his aura indicating Descendancy.
Who could this be?
...What happened here?
Astrec blinks as they come back to life, trembling for a second as they adjust to the land of the living. "Ah. Death. Not that pleasant, even with the spark of divinity we hold."
He frowns at the Baker's Dozen. "Not even willing to face us head on? Good job dealing with that.. illusioner, I think, JOE."
Astrec focuses, and pulls a syringe from a pouch on their armor. They inject Auma with it, the nanomachines within getting to work healing them up. Astrec then scans the Owls, if possible.
Axiomatic-Fiendish Parliament: Owl Count: 666. So not only are they "Evil", they're also perfected "Evil" as well?
It's weird, isn't it? Axiomatic, "Lawful" Creatures are said to be perfected versions of mundane animals, but Anarchic, "Chaotic" Creatures are believed to be rougher, unrefined prototypes of said animals. There's some sort of message in that, isn't there?
Smirk continues his process of setting safeguards, by setting the voidic protection shield to also be of magical nature, and directly linked to the pole, thus making an anti-magic field the best way to get caught interfering with the device, not the best to get away with it.
Nerà finishes the conversation held in the Discord server with the Arbiter, which I'll probably cut and edit into this post at a future date if we ever come back to this.
"Arbiter. I am not, despite what you likely think, an evil man. I am, I have shown you, a better man than you'll ever be. Where you cower behind a screen or behind the alleged agency of others, allowing those you care for to die by your inaction under the guise of not interfering, I would never allow such a thing. You are a man of empty words about peace, something you desire by your tongue and yet would not move your arm to achieve. Unlike your world, mine saw peace for those that would accept my offering. I created a world free of labor, free of suffering, free of loss for all that live beneath my watch. Born of bloodshed though it may have been, look at the monsters that roam the wilds and barbaric places of this realm and tell me I had any other choice? I tamed the wild and slew the evil. Were it to those like you who decried my actions because of the harm they caused, I could not have saved all I have from harm. Your inaction is death, and on my world it was death until I took action to stop it. And even now I continue to take action to secure peace for my people.
My actions are good, for they are peace. And if you stand in the way of a single action of mine again, you know now that you do not save the innocent but damn them.If you wish to mutter empty words behind your screen then do so, I do not care. But try to stand in my way again and I will make more clear to you the consequences. You got off last time easy, because you were ignorant more so than malicious. I will not grant you the benefit of the doubt again, or the mercy that comes with it.
Show me how my monsters slay the Dwarves."
[1] Giants. How are they doing.
[2] Iron Gear is bombarded with flaming arrows, healing it.
I fly on my telekinetically-endowed, magically-mobilized skeleton to the Raven Queen's fortress.
Iron Gear regains its balance, and then grabs Cetus by the head and slams it, carpet-beam-emitting-part first, into the ground with one hand. It places the other hand on top of Cetus' head, and a spike of Adamantine (great for destroying metal, structures and constructs by the way) shoots out as though from an over-sized nailgun, penetrating Cetus' skull.
Auma grabs Boccob's Sword and stores it away. The lesser devils floating about, recognizing that final death is inevitable if they try and fight, instead join up with Astrec's party. Auma investigates not!Boccob to see what the heck was up with this whole shebang.
The Iron Golems slap the fire elemental around, because they could use the healing.
...You know nothing of who I am, you understand? Nothing.
Oh, would you look at that! The Dwarves are being overwhelmed by your hordes! Oh, the humanity? That's what you're expecting from me, isn't it? You know that people other than me are watching? I could show what you're like to the rest of the Void if you'd like.
Your Entities have been ordered. As your forces pepper the colossus with flaming arrows, elementals sprout to wreak havoc among the battlefield, skirting around your giga-golem itself. You get your giants to come and help out. 20,000 healing to the Iron Gear.
Surfing atop your skeleton, you fly over trees which get progressively taller and taller. As you near the center of the forest, the mist clears away, and you see a clearing around what may well be the largest tree in existence. Ten Iridescent Globes hang in petrified branches, bringing a splash of colour to the otherwise bleak realm. Getting closer, you see the birds. Countless dark birds. Perched on every available surface. As far as the eye can see.
Welcome to Durghakaka, Citadel of Crows.
Nerà's allies begin to arrive onto the battlefield. Dorys continue to explode against the Iron Gear. 80k. With almighty heave, the last remaining Minotaur dents the colossus's knee, bringing it down even further, a critical 34k damage. Turning it's head, Cetus releases a wide stream of plasma against the newly-arrived Stone Giants, which promptly form into Elementals. 20k damage to each. Laying in the Asphodel, Cetus's tail slowly regenerates, metal flowing like putty. As repairs commence, the Cerberi form a ring around Cetus and the Asphodel, bodyguarding. Finally, new cells metamorphose into Nymphs.
"Really? Nothing? Hmmm..." Harkener scans all these new foes. Thank you.
[PG] Nymph. 45,000/45,000 Hp.
ROLE
Supervisor
FEATURES
+ Fragmentation Beam
+ Cell Incubator
+ Self-Copy Systems
FEATURES
+ Sleek Form Factor
+ Tracking Sensor
+ Paralysis Wave
VULNERABILITIES
-Ineffective at Range
PREFERENCES
Cylindrical Objects, Simple Games
The Pipe Orcan obliterates the new cells. The Iron Gear mashes Cetus' head into the ground, impaling it with a spike. 130,000 Damage. Carpet Beam Warmup increased!
Meanwhile in Nessus, the Devils laugh at the suggestion to surrender, but do nothing.
The Fire Elemental eyes Ishmael and walks towards him. "There you are." Hungry for healing, both Iron Golems, including the one still not under your control smack it about, dealing 35k each and healing for the same amount. Despite this punishment, the elemental remains undeterred. "Your time is up." Reaching Ishmael, they burn out, returning to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
Auma attempts to stow the Arcane Sword, only to get hacked at for 2 damage. Giving up, he instead takes a closer look at the burning owl. Upon examination, the magic left on it indicates that... It was a familiar.
A surge of magic ripples through the air. High-level Transmutation. Someone's casted Time Stop. But wh-oh. Oh.
I think Boccob's invisible.
Meanwhile in M616, JOE's regeneration finally wears off. I think that's the only noteworthy thing to mention here.
Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
Investigate?
Talk to the Armillaries?
Defeat the Third Praetorian!
Find a way to get to reach Celestia!
Defeat Cetus! It's protecting a portal!
FoundationQuest:
Locate The Foundation.
NeràQuest:
Find allies to fight off P3?
Please call off the Dwarf Invasion. Genocide is not the answer.
[1x] Well, that's... interesting. since the past is fixed... Alright. I need more information. So I search the voidic internet for records of yellow-colored descendants. What? Scrying isn't the only solution! I don't search just for yellow-coloured descendants- I'm not interested in making a secure connection nobody can spy on, and I don't want to tip off these people. So, instead, I search for descendants of every colour, then ignore all mentions of non-yellow ones. The important part is the yellow ones, but I'm leaving traces analogous to searching for every descendant ever and their colors, like some kind of fanboy. Then, assuming my results are inconclusive, I quickly cast a high-precision force spell, carving deep divots into the ground around me in a particular pattern...
[1x] Assuming I carved divots, I stab myself- well, the Biosuit-in the arm. I don't cut deep, small enough for the wound to close in a few rounds, but that's not important. the important part is that, with a bleeding wound formed, I expend the Blood special, and use the life force and blood I'll lose from that wound to set up this ritual. I don't activate it yet, though- Keeping the power of the special coursing through it in a loop to buy me a few seconds before that fades, I deactivate blood...
[1x] And expend Light, the glow illuminating brightly- though not so brightly, not enough to attract much attention-as I channel the magic, and the lingering power of the Blood special, to power straight through the interference and find out where my items went. Even if I don't find the full timeline, though I still hope I might, I should easily be able to find out which direction they set off in. Plus, this seems like the sort of group to be Interesting. even if the base I find they went to back then has been abandoned for 50 years or something, I imagine there'll be things of worth. (If the items go to different places, I follow up on CGOC first, then check the voidship if I've got power left, and only then the lab. ...how did they pack up a lab? Well, I guess they did have a descended on their side.)
SUMMARY:
1) look up the yellow descended on the voidnet while masking my trail.
2) expend the Blood special to use Blood Magic to power a use of the Light special to power through the interference and track down where CGOC was sent.
Entity Orders: stay on watch, i guess. Oh, and for the scanner, sure, get it to neraverse whatever way you think it'll work. Not much point in sending a Symbiote to Ishmael now, since they're not there any more.
Very few instances of Confirmed Descended and their colour signatures exist on the VoidNet. Most of the info on the VoidNet is repeated time and time again by versions of the same person in different universes, and it often gets confusing, as there'd be slight differences between each entry.
Otherwise, there are next to no instances of non-yellow Descended, with the only confirmed example being Nedben, and what we saw clearly wasn't him.
A silver cord ties this Descended to a single star in the sky.
Based on its position and time of year at that point, it can only be one place: Aldebaran.
However, nobody else working on the battlefield points to Aldebaran. Instead, everything else went to... Earth, it seems. They don't seem to have developed teleportation back then. This mystery just gets deeper and deeper...
Thanks to your efforts, you relocate the Iron Gear to a secure spot within the Elemental Plane of Fire, just as your Force Artillery comes crashing down. 1,000 to all PG Forces! Cells Destroyed, Bonus Damage to Cerberi, Nymphs fissioned. Giants assigned to defend Pipe Orcan.
You enter Durghakaka through a keyhole-shaped entranceway, appearing directly before the Raven Queen.
"Well, I guess I'll need to do something while I wait for a response from Avernus on the subject of Alethea's willingness to join the meeting. Probably not going to get any results from the others without Alethea's willingness to actually attend... Oh, yeah, that's an idea. Might be interesting." Smirk then leaves the neutral territory, leaving the staff in place, and exits within the vastness of the plane of Oblivion. He begins to focus as he arrives, and as the caustic, destructive nature of the place begins to affect him, his body begins a cycle of regenerating all material the latent Oblivion energy destroys from him.
It's empty.
Completely devoid of anything.
Nothing's there. A sad single Dory fails to do anything, it's intended target gone. Reacquiring sights, the Spartoi generates yet another. That's literally all it does. The Minotaur turns its attention to the Stone Giants, attacking one for a critical 44k damage! Free from the Iron Gear's grip, Cetus allows the Asphodel to complete repairs on it's tail, before taking to the skies once more. 60,000 Hp restored! The Cerberi howl a haunting, hounding melody, but refrain from attacking. However, the nymphs and Fire Elementals aren't as merciful, and strike the non-bodyguarding Giants for 60,000 Damage each!
Harkener scans the Cerberi and Nymphs yet again to get some more information on them!
Nymph. 45,000 Hp.
ATTACK:
Flurry: 15,000.
PASSIVE:
Fission: Upon being struck, summon a copy. Only the first strike in a multi-hit attack connects. Upon destruction, summon Cells.
Nymph-Copy. 1/1 Hp.
ATTACK:
Flurry: 15,000.
Cerberi. 42,000 Hp. -2,000 Armour. +25% Accuracy.
ATTACK:
Dogpile: 10,000. Lower AC by 5,000. Stacks with further Dogpiles.
Rally: Increase all Cerberi Dogpile Damage by +1,000.
The Pipe Orcan Doots at the Spartoi, Minotaur and a Cerberi for 30,000 Damage, the last of which is destroyed! Making Morale, the Giants restore 30,000 Hp, and lob rocks. 50,000 Damage to Minotaur(destroyed), Nymph, and Nymph-copy!
+2 AG Morale
I detect another Time-surge in Nessus. Channelling the power of Divine Light, Auma shines like a sun upon the battlefield. As was expected, the real Boccob fades into view. Raising his hand, the God-Mage calls an owl to his side. Thanks to the Delphi Orb, you scan them for their basic information. 20 Hp restored to Auma. Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
Investigate?
Talk to the Armillaries?
Defeat the Third Praetorian!
Find a way to get to reach Celestia!
Defeat Cetus! It's protecting a portal!
FoundationQuest:
Locate The Foundation.
NeràQuest:
Find allies to fight off P3?
Please call off the Dwarf Invasion. Genocide is not the answer.
Smirk begins looking around, trying to see if any forms of structures composed of Oblivion energy exist, or if it seems the entire plane's nature is the purest entropy, while his body continually stays prepared to regenerate anything taken by the Oblivion essence of the place.
[1x] Alright, well... I'll get to the Aldebaran later. First, time to retrieve my stuff. I rotate my platemobile, and head off to Earth.
[1x]... after a moments thought, I decide I'll also want a lower profile. I don't want to look positively associated with Cake Guy, because some people are hostile to cake guy... but I also don't want to look like I hate cake guy, since people might assume I want to destroy the constructs left behind, and that'll get us off on the wrong foot, too. So... I decide to pick a temporary Aesthetic for my travels entirely orthogonal to Cake Guys. specifically, I replace the texture files for all my present entities with things from Dragon Ball Z. This camouflages me as being very muscular with golden spike-hair, and the rest of my entities like various types of Machine Mutants. it won't stand up in combat, but if I'm in combat things have already gone poorly.
[1x] Right, while I'm in travel, I'll keep working on my fuzz-constructs. Like with every ball, I shrink the latest fuzzballs, squishing these particular ones flatter as I do.
Entities, follow me. All entities have preemptive orders to scan any hostiles or potential hostiles. Facility, if 3 AC is just the Metal Special's cap, spend 20 points on the Steffan Special to increase the AC of the Biosuit to 7.
You disguise all your entities and head to Earth! Since Earth is a prime destination, you arrive in the vicinity of the system very quickly. ((Also, I don't want to stall for more time.)) Now, will you enter the Voidport, or...?
Steffan increases the Biosuit's Hp to 7! Another 3 Stone Giants, as well as a Storm Giant wade into battle. A Spartoi-Dory strikes a Stone Giant for 30k, while Cetus continues to float in the sky above. The Asphodel restore the Spartoi to full, while the Nymphs and Fire Elementals give a welcoming gift of 40,000 Damage to the new arrivals. Ouch. The Cells sprout into... Cheerleaders? Those seem to be their name, yeah.
Harkener scans the Giants with his action:
Stone Giant Warrior. 95,000/95,000 Hp.
ATTACK
Greatclub: 30,000x2.
Rock: 50,000.
[1x] Voidport? I'm not quite sure what those are... anyway, the First thing I do is set up a broadband passive scanner to test for the energy signatures of any of my stuff. disguised as a searcher for draconic spheroids.
[1x] I maintain my disguise, pretending to lift weights, going "HAAAAAAAAAA" repeatedly, and flaring a useless and wasteful energy aura around me.
[1x] silently and motionlessly,I reach into the pocket-space I'm messing with fluff in, and attach these two fluffballs on a line roughly tangent to the large sphere where they meet it, both meeting it about 70 degrees from the location that sphere meets the smaller sphere, and roughly 30 degrees apart from one another on the circular band implied by that.
You scan for Energy Signatures around the globe. Aside from the massive RED spike expected over New York Palace, you also see Astrec's blue over the North Pole from earlier, Leather Jacket Guy's grey from when he tried to relocate the earth, and Karpinsky's gold, right next to... a large CYANenergy signature.
Smirk decides to begin to meditate within this dimension, trying to begin to study this energy directly, his body still ready to regenerate anything that starts to be injured if the Oblivion Enyrjjies decide to start being hostile.
You continue to spend time within the Elemental Plane of Oblivion, I guess?
A Dory strikes the Storm Giant square in the chest. 25,000 Damage. Once again, Cetus uses Carpet Beam, the middle of splitting open to release plasma. 20,000 damage to AG forces. The Fire Elementals close the distance, sowing discord among the Stone Giants. A Critical 80,000 to one, 20,000 to another! The Nymph-copies generate spectral needles to pierce the Storm Giant. 30k. Selecting targets, the Cheerleaders surround the Asphodel, which quiver as more sprout from the ground.
-4 AG Morale
Harkener scans the Cells.
Cell. 1/1 Hp. Differentiate: 1/1.
ACTION
Differentiate: Transform into a model of the Process.
Cells are the base form of the Process: information contained within a tiny metal packet, ready to grow into a required form.
Generating a strange machine covered in dials, he places over the Orcan's pipes as it begins to play. Turning the dials, he alters the resonant frequencies of the Pipe Orcan's notes. In three loud chords, he disrupts the Fire Elementals, dismissing them from the battlefield. That done, he orders the Giants to throw stones at Cetus, who make Morale and deal.... 260k. Wow.
+3 AG Morale
The Raven Queen sits on their throne, waiting for Nerà to speak.
[1x] I head over to the Cyan signature, then.
[1x] I conjure another fluffball, somewhat smaller then the previous ones were...
[1x] and shrink it, per the usual.
You join Karpinsky, who is currently under attack by soldiers! You continue to conjure an even smaller fluffball, and I begin to wonder what you're even doing with them...
Smirk begins to make objects appear out of thin air around him, observing rate of decay within Oblivion, as well as seeing if there are things Oblivion permits.
Your objects remain intact. That is, until they come into contact with the energy of the Plane, where they are instantaneously converted into Oblivion.
"My Queen, you know the scale of the threat that faces us all. I require your assistance, yet you require mine as well. No single faction alive in this universe could withstand the forces invading us. You certainly know of my movements to unify as many nations under my banner as possible. I have a plan, but it will require your wisdom and aid in order to succeed.
Allies of mine were meant to negotiate an agreement with the fallen gods in hell, however that went to hell rather quickly. I trust that an emissary of the Raven Queen would be able to smooth over tensions down there and help my socially inept underlings forge the alliance that they were meant to. If you have anything else to offer me, or any way that I might help you then make it known. There is little time to lose here."
Auma LASERs any incoming attacks, going full defense mode.
The Iron Golem grapples a Horn Devil and body slams them.
All my giants continue following Harkener's orders.
Intentional or not, the Raven Queen cracks a thin smile at your pun. As she rises from her throne, it recedes back into the tree. Just barely a whisper, her voice is like a scythe cutting through the silence of Durghaka. "Come..." she says. "...Walk with me." Without waiting for your response, she turns and leaves the main hall.
Smirking at having made her smile, you walk with her. She leads you up a twisting flight of stairs that seem to go on as far as the eye can see. "I don't have a very good relationship with Boccob..." she says. "...He wants to believe he knows everything, so he hates both you and me for existing... He comes when he's angry at my judgement. He... he actually wants there to be more 'Evil' in the world, you know."
"He is misguidedly determined to maintain some invisible balance between good and evil. Allegedly. I'm not certain whether he truly believes that he and the fallen gods must be evil in order to stand in for the old lords of hell or whether that is simply his excuse to do evil for his own convenience."
"He is obsessed with control, but death surrounds him. There are things beyond his understanding at play. He seems to have forgotten the existence of the multiverse, and the greater pantheon. It's possible he doesn't want to remember, and instead just keep to himself."
"In a way that is understandable. It was certainly a difficult revelation for many of my followers that there existed worlds beyond those overseen by the divine thrones of our system. Boccob is intelligent, but perhaps not truly wiser than anyone else. Certainly it was not wisdom that saved him, but mere fortune."
"Obsessed with control, terrified of a sea of worlds that he cannot influence. Understandably this concept may be as terrifying for a god as it was for many mortals who made the same discovery of the truly limited power of their divine authorities."[/COLOR]
"...What else is there to say... Regardless of how short-sighted he is, Boccob is still one of the few living Gods in the Void. What do you think? Do you believe he can be turned to your side in this timeframe?"
"Certainly. Unwise though he may be, he remains the intellectual paragon he always was. I don't know how things turned violent down there when the intention was to negotiate peacefully. I assume Auma did something idiotic again. Regardless, he would listen to a god's pleas more readily than that of the great usurper. You could shake him of his denial and show him the necessity of joining forces with the side of the light."
As the Raven Queen considers your words, you reach the end of the staircase, which opens to a garden dug into a branch. At the center, a black wooden staff has been thrust through the earth. Pulling it free, she dusts off the dirt, and hands it to you. "...An Avatar has been sent to Hell. I will see what I can do. ...As for you... This is yours. you'll need it."
You cast Identify on the staff. It has the power of time infused into it, accelerating the wielder's movements. In addition, it generates an energy blade upon saying "Whatever it takes," and is dismissed by saying, "My work here is done."
"And this is?"
"...Something you'll need."
"Does it have a name?"
"...Yes, but it isn't important... You are free to name it whatever you want."
You smile slightly at that.
"...I believe this concludes our business?"
"I believe so." You bow. "Thank you, my queen."
"Good luck... Nerà." With that, the Raven Queen heads back down.
"...Whatever it takes." From one end of the staff, a pale red blade springs into existence. "This'll do."
Staff in hand, you teleport away.
Artifact get: Ebony Staff!
Entities Ordered!
Once you materialize where you're intending to go, I'll bring your skeleton with you.
...You did remember your skeleton, right?
"...Relax. As much as I want to, I won't destroy Sans here."
...Wait, you can see me?
To-Do: Increment Charges and Special Attacks
Do Entity Attacks
Figure out what to Scan this round
Raven Queen Avatar?
Recontinue FoundationQuest
The Spine's tail darts forth, jabbing deep into the Pipe Orcan, just barely missing Harkener's head! 75k damage to the Pipe Orcan. Landing amongst the Asphodel, it's armour begins to regrow. In addition, more Ashphodel begin to sprout from the ground! 160k healed. As new Minotaur develop, the Nymphs and Fire Elementals continue to harrass the Stone Giants, leaving them all on 5,000 Hp. Once again, more cells are scattered across the ground.
Another Storm Giant, as well as a Gloud Giant General arrive onto the field. Deep in thought, Harkener scans the General:
[ELITE] Cloud Giant General. 150,000/150,000 Hp. Invisibility: 50% Dodge. Flying!
ACTION
Morningstar: 35,000x2.
Rock: 50,000.
Fog Cloud: Lower Target Accuracy or Dodge by 20% until your next action. Bonus Action!
With that done, Harkener stamps his feet in frustration. "Can't think of any healing methods..." he mutters to himself. "We need medics!"
Bringing his hands together, Harkener moves them away from each other to tear open a rift to the Positive Energy Plane, keeping the Planar boundaries open under his own strength. Positive-Dominant Field Effect Added! Harkener Vulnerable!
A Clockwork Orrery enters the battlefield. "By order of Primus, you are to cease your activities at once."
Harkener grits his teeth. "And let people die?"
"The Allfather welcomes them with open arms."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Harkener takes control of the AG forces: The Pipe Orcan turtles up to accept healing, while the Giants charge forwards, blades flashing in the sun. All Cells and Nymph-copies destroyed. 2 Fire Elementals dimissed. Remaining Fire Elemental struck for 30k!
+9 AG Morale.
As promised, the Raven Queen manifests before Boccob, taking form through hellfire-cast wisps of shadow weaving together into a three-dimensional form. Palpable waves of force ripple through the air, stopping all constructs cold in their tracks.
The God-Wizard stops to sneer at the Avatar before him. "...You," he snarls. "If you're here, what do you want?"
It looks like Boccob has stopped attacking for the time being. What will you do now?
Meanwhile, as JOE approaches Karpinsky's clearing unshielded, Fighter Jets are suddenly scrambled to pursue him. I guess this is what happens when you go for the direct approach.
Charge has returned! Everyone has been set to 20/25 Charge, with their Charge being kept track of on the Battlefield. Charge Increases whenever the user posts.
[1x] I make a minor modification to the music playing from the cakemobile, causing it to quickly slow in tempo, forcing the dancing soldiers to rapidly come to a near-stop. That should delay whatever they do.
[1x] Technically, I'm currently disguised as a knock-off goku. I put two hands together in the classic goku pose, and say "Kaaaaaa, Mei, ham, mei, schlaaaaaaaaa", expending the Light special. a beam of light rushes forth as I jab my hands forwards, piercing straight through the JAS 39 Grippen Fighter-Bomber Jet, then carving a furrow of super-heated metal through the jet along its flight direction as the jet continues moving. The thing with jets? Even if it's still alive, it's not going to keep flying, it's not the right shape any more, so its mobility is just gone. The alternative is for it to be made of a material stronger then something 'unbreakable', since it has more then 45,000 HP, which is the bonus damage from unbreakable katana use, which means if you put the katana in the way so it cuts off the jets wings, the katana won't kill the jet, but logically it'll still remove the wing since it's unbreakable and stronger, so logically this more powerful then that ability can do the same.
[1x] Then, I snap my fingers as useless flare, and vanish in a flash of green like a knock-off of instant transmission. I appear above the other Fighter-Bomber Jet, and punch it. I punch a flimsy section, so it doesn't do much damage directly, just snap off that section... But alongside the punch, I secretly grab onto all the air around me with magic, and make it rush away, leaving the Jet in a large sphere of pure vacuume as I teleport away. The punch is just to look like it's a thing goku could do, like they punched so hard the shockwave made a vacuume. It's the sort of thing that could probably happen out there in Fiction. Regardless, it causes the jet to rapidly plummet to the ground in a freefall, taking it out of commission for the moment, and into easy Drone/Clone range.
[1 Charge Expended] I let out a shorter-range pulse to scan for my stuff, then head over to it. ...wait, did 'Cyan' energy not refer to my energy? Come to think of it,Cake Guys energy is probably PINK... well, maybe not. I dunno, whatever.
Entity Orders:
All Entities Scan one of the following: Dancing soldiers, fighter-bomber jet.
Drones, attack the fighter-bomber jet if it's still a threat, else attack the dancing soldiers. Clone, likewise. If Karpinsky doesn't post, I lightly suggest to his entities that they also help out with this fight, and that Void VIII +I should create a drone to patch it up or something, since Create is charged and It is hurt.
The Tempo changes. The Dancing Soldiers notice their slower movements and accordingly change tactics immediately, beginning a coordinated slow-dance.
You unleash the Light Special, immediately dealing 150k damage to one of the Fighter Jets, knocking it right out of the sky. That done, you trap the second jet in a vacuum, cutting out its engines. But despite this, it continues to remain in the air, it's inertia keeping it in motion. Eventually, its jet flares back up, weaker than before. -20% Dodge inflicted.
The energy signature? I thought you knew it wasn't yours, Karpinsky's, or Cake Guy's. It's someone else's entirely. You ping your surroundings yet again. There, partially out of phase with the immediate surroundings is a massive concrete structure, softly glowing cyan.
If you strain your eyes, you can just barely make it out. A faint magenta energy signature.
It's there. You've found it.
Smirk looks thoughtful, before returning to the Void. He then creates a box with an airtight seal, yet is transparent, and removes all matter of all varieties from it. He then opens a miniature portal to the plane of Oblivion within the box, and lets a small trickle of Oblivion through before shutting the gate, followed by placing a rubber ball directly next to it.
I step out of a portal that appears partially inside of a Minotaur, splitting it's chest open from the magical spacefold. Swinging the Ebony Staff around I cast Steel Wind Strike, teleport-spamming around a bunch of Asphodels and striking at them with the red scythe. While several fall, I cast quick Divination spells to Scan them, as well as the Cheerleaders.
A rogue mage, having lost their platoon, created a portal in front of the Spine's carpet bean emission point, the other end of which is pointed towards the PG side. It's a gamble as to whether she'll stay alive long enough for the redirection to succeed or not though.
Auma boosts his own regeneration while the giants continue obeying Harkener. The eye of flame bodyguards the weakest Lightning Giant.
As you swing at some of the Asphodel, an energy field stops your scythe in place. 10,000 to the Minotaur, 3 Asphodel cut down.
As the spell ends, magical energy attempts to corrode away your weapon, but it refuses to be consumed, remaining intact.
Asphodel MkI. 3,000/3,000 Hp. ROLE
Supplier
FEATURES
+ Restorative Aura
VULNERABILITIES
- Immobile
- Cannot Self-Restore
PREFERENCES
Burrowing, Sterile Ground.
Cheerleader 12,000/12,000 Hp. Shielding: [] ROLE
Maintenance
FEATURES
+ Shield Beam
VULNERABILITIES
- Unarmed
PREFERENCES
High-Traffic Areas, Sunsets.
Entities Ordered! Now on the ground, Cetus impales a Storm Giant with it's tail and tosses it aside. 75k damage. As it does so, all the Asphodel reach up as high as they can, giving off a massive pulse of energy. 240k Hp restored to Cetus. Amidst much cursing and frustration, the Fire Elemental and Minotaur take out one Stone Giant, and leave another at 5,000.
-2 AG Morale.
Raising a sword, the Clockwork Armillary hacks away at Harkener, reducing his charge to 0. Unable to raise a hand to strike back, he stares them straight in the eyes, bleeding wounds resealing. Giving Nerà a look, he continues to order AG forces.
Playing loud and clear, the Pipe Orcan shakes 3 Cheerleaders apart, allowing the remaining Stone Giants to rush in and cut down the 5 Ashpodel and the Fire Elemental. As this is done, the Storm Giants seek and destroy the newly-released Cells, smashing them to smithereens. Finally, the Cloud Giant General lowers Cetus' Dodge with a cleverly-placed Fogbank, breaking open a Minotaur with their Morningstar as well.
Despite everything, AG Morale is now at maximum!
Elsewhere, the remaining JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber Jet uses Stormlight This, firing two Sidewinder Air-to-Air missiles directly at JOE: The first failing to get through both his AC and Shields, the second breaking through to deal 4 damage to the Biosuit.
One Clone and one Drone each scan a Dancing Soldier and JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber Jet respectively.
Dancing Soldier. 15/15 Hp.
ACTION:
Rifle: 16,000x5.
Safety Dance: Become Invincible until your next Action.
Shield Dance: Protect 2 other Entities with your Dancing. Must be done with a Partner also doing the Shield Dance.
More Dances: Requires Further Scans.
Closing in on the JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber, one Drone uses the Hypersaber to carve through the armour of the Jet, but as it does so, the Energy Blade shorts out, it's internals melting down. 30k Damage. A Clone takes swing with the Hollow Unbreakable Katana at a defenseless soldier, which shatters on impact to deal 9 damage. So much for the power of Anime. At the same time, the Wagda, Fyre and Durt Elementals strike another dancing soldier for 6 damage as well.
A man in a suit walks out from the main entrance of the facility, his hands scrambling a Rubik's Cube. "It's believed that any Rubik's cube can be solved in exactly 18 moves," he says. "However, I'm only going to need 17 for this."
The Raven Queen sighs. "...I want you to stop fighting," she says. "...Look around you. ...Look past your petty squabble for control of this Sphere. ...Where were you when the Dark God came?"
The Raven Queen sighs. "...I want you to stop fighting," she says. "...Look around you. ...Look past your petty squabble for control of this Sphere. ...Where were you when the Dark God came?"
The God-Mage raises an eyebrow. "You lie," he growls. "Surely The Pantheon would've-"
"...You're an idiot, Boccob," The Raven Queen huffed. "...Haven't you heard? ...The Pantheon is gone. ...You're on your own."
Boccob takes a moment to process this. "W-what do you mean, gone? What are our numbers again? Over 100? How?"
"...There were over 100 of you, and 100 have merged together and been destroyed at once. ...There are but 35 of you left."
The Archmage of the Deities lowers himself to the ground. Walking up to his table, he drives his fist through it. With an almighty heave, he lifts it over his head, throwing it off the tower, books and all. Taking a breath, he wordlessly conjures and walks through a golden gate onto the Main Battlefield.
Once he's out of earshot, the Raven Queen lets out a deep exhale, like a blimp deflating. "...I've done what I could," she breathes. "...Leave it to you now." Turning over to Astrec, she removes the Ankh from around his neck. "...Will be taking that... ...Thank you very much." Without another word, she leaves in a twisting of grey dead roots.
...
Auma restores 10 Hp to himself, I guess. Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
Elemental Plane of Oblivion.
FIELD EFFECT: Oblivion. ???.
[AG] Smirk. 21/25 Charge. Has created a Metal Staff. [A] Nanosuit. Defense Mode: +5 AC. Durability: 2. Worn! Gate To Celestia:
AG REINFORCEMENTS IN: 2!
Weather: Fiendish Parliament: Owls circle the battlefield. Ominous. 665 Owls left.
Field Effect: Positive-Dominant! Organic Creatures recover 20,000 Hp per round!
AG Morale: 100% [PG][BOSS] Cetus. 663,000/864,000 Hp. 6,000 Armour. Carpet Beam: 3/3. Portal Over Eye! [PG] Asphodel. 5,000/5,000 Hp. x2. [PG] Cheerleader. 12,000/12,000 Hp. Shielding: Asphodel Group Above! x2. [PG] Asphodel. 5,000/5,000 Hp. x2. [PG] Asphodel Mk I. 3,000/3,000 Hp. x5. [PG] Fire Elemental. 9,000/40,000 Hp. [PG] Minotaur. 60,000/60,000 Hp. 5,000 Armour. x2. [PG] Minotaur. 50,000/60,000 Hp. 5,000 Armour.
[N][BOSS] Boccob. 85/85 Hp. 8 AC. Foresight: +30% Dodge and Accuracy. Starmantle: Destroys nonmagical weapons. Artifact Damage halved. Kinetic Control: Absorbs melee attacks. 0/150. Spell Reflection: Self-Explanatory. Reflects Magic! Ironguard: Immune to metal attacks! Mind Blank: Immune to Psychic attacks! Freedom: Dodge and Accuracy cannot be lowered below 100%! Justice of The Wyrm King: 35,000 Damage to anyone attacking in Melee! Shapechange: Hoo Boy this is going to be wild. [N] Boccob's Familiar. 40/40 Hp. 5 AC. Bodyguarding Boccob! Immune to Magic. [N-Boccob] Arcane Sword. Time Remaining: 3/5.
Smirk seems to question this result, before attempting to give the ball a light telekinetic shove into the oblivion energy. If nothing continues to happen, this will definitely be an odd one.
Ah, I thought Cyan was a reference to [me], since the JOE of this time period speaks in cyan- albeit saturated cyan, not desaturated.
[1x] I point out...That's not impressive at all! You just need a rubiks cube which isn't in the set of Hardest To Unscramble Initial Cube Positions. It would only be impressive if you took a cube with an initial position that has been explicitly tested and requires 18 moves, then showed a way to do it in 17. Which you didn't.
I'm right, therefore whatever scheme he's planning is invalid. Also, I subtly cast a minor spell, causing a bloom of ice to erupt from the ground and freeze the cube into a solid chunk- and this person, in place. He can probably get out, though.
[3 Charges] I surreptitiously pour three charges into the fluffballs, increasing their eventual power.
[2 C + 1x] I warp over to the Jet, then place bumpers on all its missile tubes and guns. This doesn't kill it, but if it tries to fire any missiles or attacks, they'll bounce off the bumpers and wreck havoc on its insides.
[1x] I use Blood on this ??? Man. If my hunch is correct, they're a player, so Taking via Blood should allow me to siphon Charges from them... as for why I think they're vulnerable, well, they're holding a somehow-relevant rubiks cube. That sounds like an Artefact to me.
Entity Orders:
Facility, Send in more drones! The guy who was here already is Useless!
Drones, attack Grippen-jet, else soldiers. Clones, likewise, and so on.
Drone 1, scan soldiers. drone 2, scan ??? man. clone 1, scan soldiers. clone 2, scan ??? man. wagda elemental, scan soldiers. fyre elemental, scan soldiers. durt elemental, scan soldiers.
You coldifyfreeze the Rubik's Cube solid, but the man effortlessly cuts his way out with a- wait that's a toothbrush. You then place bumpers on the Jet's weapon systems, making it deal damage to itself when it attacks! You also attempt to use Blood on the mysterious man, but he remains unaffected. He's invulnerable.
The nedben, not entirely sure how he got to the main battlefield and having not actually shot the overfiend with the railgun, shoots the railgun at Cetus instead.
...Unless otherwise noted, your Railgun is now unloaded. Unless it's one of those self-reloading ones. I don't know, maybe that's a thing? Schrodinger's Projectile.
Without any semblance of warning, a portal suddenly opens up at the Gate to Celestia and spits out a figure, then closes behind them. Landing facefirst on the ground, the figure coughs and rises, revealing themselves to be a tall figure covered head-to-toe in damaged white armor, with red armor covering the arms, and black visible on the hands, feet, and in various places where the white armor is broken open. They seem to be wearing a mask of some kind, though the figure takes it off, stows it away, and puts on another, smaller one in its place. The figure then bends over to pick something off the ground, which turns out to be a large silver shield with a heavily damaged chrome finish. This retrieved, the figure looks around, seeing where they have winded up... and sighs.
"Escape from one battle, and fall headfirst into another... It never ends, does it?"
Gazing upon Cetus, the figure frowns as he sizes up the creature.
"Well then, it seems a proper rest will have to wait. There's a new war to be fought here."
With that, the Masked Figure, as he will be known presumably until someone asks his name, leaps from the ground at a surprising speed towards Cetus, then promptly rams the beast with his shield. No need to start things off fancy, that can wait for later.
Both iron golems (the one Boccob dominated being returned to my control) are teleported to the plane of fire by a squad of conjurers, who also teleport Auma to the main battlefield.
Auma transforms the Swisarmyknifemodder into... some kind of magical focus, not quite sure what kind. Either way, with potent magic and inherent luminous abilities amplified through the artifact's lens, Auma unleashes a burst of Aspect-and-Arcane-fueled luminous death upon the enemy troops (minus Cetus). He also fires one of his Stars at Cetus.
The Cloud Giant General uses its targeting special on Cetus, Faerie Fire providing increased accuracy to any who would target the beast.
The Giants all kill whatever they can.
[1] Nerà receives Harkener's look and Banishes the Clockwork Armillary. Burning 5 CP, a divine soul sorcerer breaks ranks to come blast Harkener with heals.
"Boccob, I see our negotiations have succeeded. Wonderful of you to help us here, but my intention was actually to have you turn Tiamat's ire to the Demons so that the Devils could be free to assault our invaders. Feel free to go accomplish that after you're done here."
[1] Nerà reverses the gravity beneath Cetus, throwing off its flight temporarily but more importantly causing tons of thrown boulders, dropped corpses and miscellaneous undead warriors to fly up and crash into The Spine. The Undead grapple onto Cetus, reapplying the DoT that the spine had from when it was grounded that will remain until the skellies can be shaken off.
[1] Nerà himself rides the reversed gravity with the Ebony Staff outstretched, crimson blade of energy carving deeply into Cetus' side as he falls upwards past it. He stops himself once he's fallen above Cetus and fires a few Firebolts at the monster while the Masked Figure rams it with a shield.
"A newcomer? Descended. Who are you?" the elf asks @redoubtableEagle
Boccob laughs without a hint of humour. "You think to command me? My goals are my own. I work for myself, and I will allow you to assist me at this time."
Raising Cetus off the ground, you pelt them with boulders and skeletons, before slamming them back onto the ground. 44,000 Damage, Skeleton DoT reapplied! Cetus lashes out at Storm Giant 1, cleanly spearing through the Eye of Flame as well. Knowing their time is nigh, the Asphodel heal Cetus as much as they can: 140k. Still close to the AGs, the Minotaurs smash the Pipe Orcan to smithereens, much to Harkener's frustration.
-10 AG Morale
Boccob points at the Armillary previously harassing Harkener. "You're with me now." He then directs his sword to hack at a Minotaur. 25k damage.
The Stone Giants take out the new Cells and Cheerleaders, while the Storm Giant softens up two Minotaur with his Greatsword for 40,000 Damage. At the same time, the Cloud Giant flies up to Cetus, adding more clouds to box it's mobility in, at the same time smashing it with their Morningstar for 58k. Finally, In a burst of light, Auma deals 25,000 Damage to all PG units except for Cetus itself. This destroys almost everything. He then throws one of his Crown of Stars at Cetus. 24k.
AG Morale continues to hold!
As two Dancing Soldiers use Shield Dance, one of the two shielded replicates into two more, while the other one fires through the barrier, downing the Clones and dealing 16,000 damage to the Exotic Crystal. The JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber Jet uses Stormlight This again, taking 40k Critical damage in the process, but dealing 90k to the Void VIII+I, as well as destroying JOE's Vox Umbra.
Out of the ice, the Mysterious Man thaws out the Rubik's Cube, making another move. "Fifteen." Pulling a Minigun from somewhere, he shoots it high up into the air. Since Acid Rain starts to fall right after, these two events are clearly related to each other.
The Void VIII+1 creates a Repair Drone for itself, just as the Acid Rain begins to eat away at it. The actual Void and Ice Drones fire at the Shielded Soldiers, failing to deal any damage. On the other hand, JOE's Drones are far more successful, dealing 42k damage total to the JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber Jet. Neutron Edge consumed. The Exotic Crystal-Elementals scan the Dancing Soldiers for more information:
Dancing Soldier. 15/15 Hp.
ACTION:
Rifle: 16,000x5.
Safety Dance: Become Invincible until your next Action.
Shield Dance: Protect 2 other Entities with your Dancing. Must be done with a Partner also doing the Shield Dance.
Fast Dance: +50% Dodge.
Smart Dance: +100% Accuracy.
Multi Dance: Summon 2 Dancer Duplicates.
More Dances: Requires Further Scans.
Taking aim with Marzanna's Sight, Karpinsky downs the JAS 39 Gripen Fighter-Bomber Jet by shooting out its engine. He nods at JOE. "I'll provide cover fire. You take the reins." He hands JOE the controls for his Ship and Drones.
Elemental Plane of Fire: Secure Location.
Field Effect: Pretty obvious, isn't it? 20,000 Fire Damage per round.
[AG][ELITE] Iron Gear. 227,000/800,000 Hp. 10,000 AC. Immune to Magic! Antimagic Field. [AG-TOG] Iron Golem 1. 161,000/180,000 Hp. Glibglobink Shell: 3/3. Immune to Magic. [AG-TOG] Iron Golem 2. 73,000/180,000 Hp. Glibglobink Shell: 3/3. Magic Immunity: 50%
The Forest.
Morale: N/A.
Weather Effect: Targeted Acid Rain: 10,000 Damage to all AG entities per round. -25% Dodge.
Field Effect: Music! Reduced Encounter Chance.
CakePlatemobile Integrity: 80%.
Visions of a dark, pulsating ball. Visions of a thousand tiny ships. ???: Our destinies only become clear to us once they've already passed.
A thousand small spikes fly out of the ball and strike the ships. Not one is spared. ???: But I never thought my destiny would be to face you again.
A vision of a standoff between a man and his shadow. Each strikes, but the shadow wins, tearing through the arm of the man.
S. H. awakens from his nightmare. He doesn't know he's about to enter another one. But he can't worry about that right now, he seems threatened by the nearby Minotaur.
Wasting no time, S. lunges forward with his mechanical leg and strikes the Minotaur's solar plexus with his mechanical arm, using his mechanical eye to pinpoint its exact location.
S. H.: I suppose I can worry about remembering my past later. I seem to be needed here.
~~~
Charge: 0/25
As a creature of informational potential contained within a metallic shell, the Minotaur has little sensory similarities to that of the human nervous system. That being said, the force of your blow firmly? dispatches it.
Can you hear me? Welcome, Sky High! Those are your initials, right?
The nedben pulls a Captain Murasa and anchors Cetus with an anchor by dropping it on them. However, the anchor is actually one of those enchanted pirate symbols for quickly training pirates for things like rigging and dramatic swordfights. It makes the skeletons into sailor skeletons, improving their damage over time and ability to anchor Cetus.
Quick to follow up on his first attack, the Masked Man kicks off of Cetus' armor, launching himself high into the air. When he reaches the peak of his arc, he grabs hold of the sides of his shield, and as he descends he thrusts it down, stabbing deep into the beast. He then pulls out the shield (with some difficulty) before jumping backwards, getting some distance between himself and Cetus.
The Masked Man turns to the elf, somewhat surprised that someone has deigned to speak to him so soon after his arrival. Nevertheless, far be it from him to leave the question unanswered.
"...I am Lusiix, and I come from a world very much unlike this one."
He pauses.
"You call me "Descended", what does that mean? I'm rather new around here, you see."
[1x] I pick up a rock, then throw it at the fallen fighter/bomber jet. By not following the rules of prespective, the rock appears to remain at a constant size during its flight. after a few moments, it reaches the fallen fighter/bomber jet and crushes it, now a quite sizeable boulder.
[1x] I then point a hand at the dancing soldiers. Oblivion rushes forth, a tightly-controlled stream pouring from my hand and through the soldiers, piercing several without slowing down. this is, admittedly, helped along by the first targetted soldier only having one health left, but that's neither here nor there. When the stream runs out of power,it winks out, the oblivion sucked into a single point and removed.
A quick illusion makes this look like something a goku could do with energy beams like kamayomayo wave blastes.
[1x] I glance up at the weather. I don't think I have any gokuable ways to do this, so I make the effect I'm about to cause seemingly originate from the Void VIII +I; a compartment in the ship which may or may not have not existed before opens up, and fires white capsules into the sky. Soon, there are a dozen in various stages of flight, and another compartment which probably didn't exist opens up, firing up a single black tetrahedron. the tetrahedron comes to a stop, then crackles like television static. the white capsules begin to orbit it, hinges on the capsules swinging open to reveal odd bleached machinery. Grey lightning begins to crackle between the components of this aparatus as the orbits stablize, creating a horizontal ring of white machinery around the tetrahedron, with one tetrahedron-tip pointed straight down. There's an ominous whirring sound, and then the rain... stops. The whirring continues, though. Up in the sky, the black machinery turns its point somewhat,the bottom tip now aimed at a dancing soldier, and above it a shape is visible only in its effects on the rain: The acidic droplets are spiraling inwards into the tetrahedron, as though they landed in a funnel.
Quietly, beneath the whirring, is a small 'click', before a bolt of the concentrated acidic rain, its acidity significantly enhanced, lances out to strike a dancing solider. This process repeats periodically... though, if the other Descended alters their aim to target the tetrahedron, they find it twists with remarkable alacrity and immediately unleashes, not one of those bolts, but a veritable torrent of acidic rainwater, in defence; evidently it is functioning far under capacity in terms of offence when not attacked.
[0x] I scan the replica soldiers.do they have the dancing abilities too?
Entity Orders : 3 Drones bodyguard the Void VIII+I. Repair Drone repairs the Void VIII+I. Void Drones, stealthily assassinate the remaining dancing soldiers and replicas. Telepresence Drone, project alternate images of as many of the non-invisible entities here as you can manage to draw fire. Ice Drone, attempt to create ice in the path of any incoming attacks. ordinary drones without orders, kill dancing soldiers/replicas if more survive.
Void VIII+I, if you still have create charged as listed in your statline, create another repair drone. If not, attack the dancing soldiers which are still alive, if any, with your standard attack of 120,000 damage, then fire as many missiles as needed to kill any further remaining dancing soldiers, assuming such exist. If there are no remaining soldiers to target, hide stealthily and attempt to accelerate your repairs.
Elementals, move on ahead if all enemies are dead, to locate my Stuff.
Your scan of the Replica Soldier yields:
Dancing Soldier. 15/15 Hp.
ACTION:
Rifle: 16,000x5.
Safety Dance: Become Invincible until your next Action.
Shield Dance: Protect 2 other Entities with your Dancing. Must be done with a Partner also doing the Shield Dance.
Fast Dance: +50% Dodge.
Smart Dance: +100% Accuracy.
Multi Dance: Summon 2 Dancer Duplicates.
Annihilation Dance: Requires 5 Dancers. Deals 150,000 MHP Damage to a single target, ignoring Dodge, Shields and Armour.
More Dances: Requires Further Scans.
Duplicate Soldier. 15/15 Hp.
ACTION: Same as Dancing Soldier.
You crush the downed Jet, destroying it for good. You also use Oblivion on the Dancing Soldiers, but they remain fine, because two of them are still doing the Shield Dance to protect the other two! I guess, it splashes over onto the Duplicate Soldiers? They're just... gone. Totally gone.
"There's no need to hide, JOE. We all know it's you," says the stranger.
You have Void VIII+I funnel away the Acid for the round, attempting to pour it onto a Dancing Soldier. Once again, Shield Dance prevents them from taking damage!
I spawn on the battlefield with literally no clue what's going on. There's a precog somewhere, and quite frankly I'm allergic to predictions. I immediately erupt in a minor and communicable rash. Nearby enemies are also afflicted, the rash worsening in relation to how close they are to a precog (applies to enemies with the tag Foresight)! (Ten stages of affliction, 1: All d100 sides except 1-10 are okay for the dex roll. 2: all sides except 1-20 are okay for the dex roll. If at severity 10, you cannot pass the dex roll.) This impedes movement and any defenses or maneuvers for dodging must make a d100 dex save! If hit, extra damage x1.5 is given to the afflicted! (Severity scales with how close you are, in meters, to a precog, 10 meters being severity level one, and 1 meter being severity level ten.)
Hope this helps any attackers. Next turn I'm going to do something weird. Looks like you didn't take sickness or communicable things into account when it comes to defenses (at least for things close to Boccob, like his familiar).
[this part is /null and planning for next turn. I will put an entity made of four men of various nationalities fused into one onto the field, whom are immune to reality warping, reality warp induced effects, and reality warp created objects being applied to them! They can be commanded to extend this effect to a person or object once per turn, via them being asked "Can you see me?" to which they will respond, "Yes." "Oui." "Si." "Ja." and the effect will then be casted onto the asker or a target indicated by them! (Note, also nullifies any preexisting effects on a target. So if someone (the target) has a really good reality warp generated shield, well, too bad you can now pick up a rock from the ground and smash their skull in.) Also! This is my first time ever posting and I created an acc solely for this whole debacle. Lucky you.]
((I don't actually know how to have your attack work out, considering I don't have stats for Dexterity or Distance here.))
That being said, Boccob's forces all lose 10% Dodge. But why? He's technically on our side now.
Boccob gives you a glare.
Realizing I've fallen asleep at the narration wheel, Astrec returns to activity. Not sparing words for Cetus, they bring up the Godarm and the thing on their other hand. "I guess it's a good as time as any for this. Let's let hope this doesn't explode on us. Preferably it explodes on them, but considering my track record at this point I think I'll just be fine if something explodes."
Astrec raises, and summons forth the power of the special. Astrec... Ascends? Bit hard to describe what you have no knowledge of.
You hands glow. On the back of your right palm, an eye opens. The Godarm morphs into an arm-cannon, then back into fingers again. Your left eye white, your right black. Sound and Light pulse and blend together around you.
...What do you do?
Smirk teleports the orb of pure oblivion back to its home plane, and then begins to try something. He tries to generate a small speck of oblivion essence in the center of the box, but something about it is off. This is because its energy is not purely Oblivion, but Oblivion that is composed of Code energy. He then tries tossing another rubber ball into this test object.
"Descended, Descended. From an old piece of poetry that sneaks into the minds of those of us to whom it refers. Those blessed with the threefold abilities of the perfected heart, hand and eye. A heart that refuses to allow us to die even in the face of greater trauma than has felled many gods. Hands that work wonders at a mere thought, able to play with the weave of physics like it was clay for the molding at our whim. Eyes that can see more than any mere mortal can. Look above, around. *Look* at my words. What you *see* is something that only we can.
We are the gods of the Void, immortal, all-powerful, seeing beyond sight. The flow of causality is ours to bend or break for our personal desires, and our purposes are- whether petty or grandiose- inherently divine by the virtue of our nature." @redoubtableEagle
{8 CP} Nerà casts Mass Polymorph on some owls, transforming them into motherf*cking T-Rexes. Hell yeah.
[1] Spinning the Ebony Scythe around twice, Nerà plunges it's armor-piercing blade into Cetus. Running along the Spine's spine, Nerà drags the blade across it. Upon reaching the end of the Spine, Nerà jumps off into the air, taking flight once more.
[1] While making the above slash, Nerà was also dropping several small grubs out of a pouch into the gash formed. They begin burrowing deeper into Cetus while Nerà finishes their first attack and when he's completed in and taken flight, the spell on the grubs ends. The Polymorph that was keeping them as grubs cease and the Cetus suddenly finds its internals full of not small grubs, but several large and feral Black Drakes which set to spewing acid all around inside the spots they're stuck in before they're crushed to death.
"Boccob, I know your ego is larger than your fear of me, but I know too that your intelligence is larger than your ego, else you would not still be alive and... prosperous. Listen to me. As equals, if not rightly superior and inferior, I speak as one mage to another, both struggling to save our planar system from utter devastation at the hands of these invaders. I fear the worst for the Throne, which is why we fight to break into Celestia here in the first place. When we march on the Mountain, I fear that there will be a greater concentration of enemy forces there than on any other plane. The Throne must be their target.
I do not honestly think that, as out forces stand, whatever forces these invaders have at past that gate can be defeated by what we could bring to bear against them. Even with my reinforcements on the way, we may very well still lose in the most important battle. We- not just us Descended, but as as natives to this universe- *need* the armies of hell to aid in taking down this extra-planar menace. You must liberate your devils from the Blood War and rally them behind you to retake Celestia. In order for this to happen the Blood War must first be paused. This is why you must have Tiamat's empire wage war on the demons. The Wrathful Ones' ire can be kept from the lawful forces of darkness just long enough for them to turn from defending reality from one source of annihilation to another. I personally planned to drag Lolth and the Daemons into the Blood War as well in order to ensure that your hold is protected. Please, Boccob, as a lordling in this material plane, in this system which stands to lose everything if you cannot save us I beg you like I have begged none before. Do what must be done to free your armies from their infernal feud and join us on the heavenly battlefield."
The Stone Giants bodyguard the Divine Soul, who heals up the least healthy of the three. The Storm Giant and Cloud Giant do their stuff attacking Cetus.
Auma inverts their Swissarmyknifemodder's lens into a highly focused one, firing a Ligh-empowered Maximized Sun Beam at Cetus directly in it's eye. He also flings another star from the crown at it.
You Slash a deep gash into Cetus, your Black Drakes wreaking havoc with its internals before Cetus' endo-defences annihilate them. 100k Damage.
Boccob watches you speak. He's clearly committed your actions to his memory. "...As much as I'd like to see you grovel more, very well. I will be back."
And with that, he's left yet again. The Skeletons on Cetus tear away at it, dealing 12k Damage. In response, Cetus uses Carpet Beam, aware of the Portal in front of it's eye. Plasma washes over Cetus, dealing no damage to itself, vaporizing many of the Skeletons on it's back, before continuing past Cetus and down onto the rest of the Battlefield, dealing 25k Electric and Fire damage to everything. One Stone Giant goes down, bodyguarding the Divine Soul. The Storm Giants and Auma remain unaffected.
Understanding the situation, the Astrec's Clockwork Armillary turns towards the AGs. "Attention: You are benefitting from unauthorized healing. Stand by for correction:"
Generating two massive spheres of Acid, it hurls it towards the Storm Giant, dealing 55k damage twice. "Your cooperation in this process is appreciated."
The remaining Giants throw boulders at Cetus. 150k Damage total. Rising up into the air, Auma casts a massive sunbeam piercing straight through Cetus' primary optic. The Spine Carrier crashes to the ground.
You've did it. 1 Godmodder Damage. Everyone gets +5 Charge.
"Fourteen," the Stranger announces. "What's that suit? Was it grown from Gods and Praetors? I see you've somehow managed to capture some of Alethea's Godmodding, but no extra Descendancy. Half marks. Drop it."
On command, the Dancing Soldiers release their Shield Dance to fire at will. Exotic Crystal, Drone Group I, and 3 Drone Group 2 Drones destroyed.
The Stranger notices Karpinsky's Sniper Rifle. "Two can play at that game." With a snap of his fingers, walls of force box JOE, Karpinsky and the Sole remaining Regular Drone into a single-file line, raised into the air. Leaping into the air, he summons a sniper rifle. While spinning about, he fires a bullet off-course, only for it to readjust mid-flight, dragging itself straight through JOE (6) and Karpinsky's (7) heads, and the Drone's optics(destroyed). "H4H! G077333M!" he crows, raising an airhorn into the air. "Oh baby, a 720 Triple Noscope! Suck on D33Z NU75!"
...Sweet Null.
He's a gamer. He needs to go down.
Now.
The Void VIII+1 Generates another Repair Drone(The Create was a mistake, but sure), and also fires 7 missiles to wipe out the unguarded Dancing Soldiers. Since everyone except for the Stranger is gone, the remaining Drones Scan him.
[???] "The Stranger". 80/80 Charge. Invulnerable!
ACTION
Descendancy!: To a certain extent, this man can do practically anything, except he's stronger.
PASSIVE
???
NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE.
"...Are you done yet? You see me? I see you."
As he speaks these words, all Invisibility fails.
"There, that was going to get annoying. I was going to ignore that anyways, so why keep it active?"
As if things couldn't get any worse, Harrier Jets fly into view.
On the battlefield, Observation Drones fly through the portal to project an image of the Iron Prince clapping. "Bravo. Very impressive."
At the same time, Boccob also sends a projection. "I am currently standing in Tiamat's Palace. She isn't her- Oh." Boccob's eyes narrow.
"Hello, Boccob." Even behind the vocal processing, the Prince's voice seems colder. "We meet again."
The Archmage raises an eyebrow. "...Should I know you?"
The Prince remains still. The Projection stops running. Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
[AG] Astrec. 666 Charge. Vulnerable! [A] The Godarm. Oblivion Buster: Active! [A] Hand of Judgement. BODY: [IIIIII]. MIND: [IIIIII]. SOUL: [IIIIII]. [A] Thistle of Zillywich. +60,000 Power. Durability: 1.
Elemental Plane of Fire: Secure Location.
Field Effect: Pretty obvious, isn't it? 20,000 Fire Damage per round.
[AG][ELITE] Iron Gear. 247,000/800,000 Hp. 10,000 AC. Immune to Magic! Antimagic Field. [AG-TOG] Iron Golem 1. 181,000/180,000 Hp. Glibglobink Shell: 3/3. Immune to Magic. [AG-TOG] Iron Golem 2. 93,000/180,000 Hp. Glibglobink Shell: 3/3. Magic Immunity: 50%
The Forest.
Morale: N/A.
Weather Effect: Targeted Acid Rain: 10,000 Damage to all AG entities per round. -25% Dodge. Did not apply this round!
Field Effect: Music! Reduced Encounter Chance.
CakePlatemobile Integrity: 80%.
[0x] 'aight, time for some subterfuge(?) composed entirely of either questions or true statements. I think the cake I'm here to retrieve probably counts as my inheritance or something. "You say you know it's me, but how do I know you know me well enough to know the me that is me? even I don't know me half as well as I know myself!"
"Also why are you trying to stop Karp and me? I don't think the karp have hostile wants, and I've been told the things I'm looking for are like, my inheritance or something! you should just sorta let us do the stuffs!".
Hm, do you think I made the voice whiny enough to be convincing? I've not got much practice pretending to be a whiny ignorant idiot descended, but I think I can pull it off.
Smirk pulls out a non trademark specific video game controller with a joystick, an a button, and a B button. He attempts to affect the Code Oblivion with a control code set to make the joystick control its movement in the cardinal directions from him, the a button cause it to go upwards, and the b button to cause it to go downwards. He then tests if the code functions by messing with the controller.
You successfully manipulate Code-Oblivion!
...You do know that practically everyone does this to circumvent that, right?
You hear static. Despite there not being any air, the smell of ozone fills your nose. "Utterly without use. What a pity."
A proxy of the Godmodder stands behind you. "Relax. I come in peace. Hello, Smirk. I heard your wish for peace. Let's talk."
"Let me put it in words you'll understand: I don't really care who you are. My things are my things, and your things are also my things! You are not taking anything from this facility. Not without a fight."
S. H. thinks he can hear someone calling for him. But the voice is blurred. A now forgotten memory? He can't even remember his own name, how can he make sense of these passing nightmares?
S. H.: Long have I wandered... are my memories now returning?
He puts this thought in the back of his mind for now, instead electing to pick up a nearby rod of iron and use it to smash some Observation Drones. Then, when he gets a chance, he sits down with a pen and a piece of parchment. He writes...
To Whom It May Concern,
I write to you hoping you will know who I am. I believe that fate will send this letter to someone who remembers me. While I do not know if this letter will assist you in knowing who I am, I do know that I have no other options if I wish to find out who I am.
May this letter find you well.
S. H.
The paper is swept up in a sudden gust of wind as S. H. feels his power draining. Somewhere, far away, someone stands up and answers the call.
HP: ~20 Charge
DR: ~5 Charge
A'Tuin must be defeated before any entities or players in his zone can be damaged.
(OOC: This character's only known name is S. H. and should be called that in the update posts, thanks)
[x0] "... anyway. Out of 'compassion'- is that the word?- for the other person here who, if memory serves, was simply here to investigate, and not steal, I ask: Will you allow their ship and such to peacefully disengage?."
(The text-changes there are just me gradually ceasing my attempt to sound like the whiny ignorant version of myself; I've heard the distinction means little to this 'Gamer'.)
[1x-Conditional] If anyone successfully renders the Stranger vulnerable at any point in the round, I use Blood on them to steal their CP.
[1x] I quickly hop over to one of the ruins of the fighter/bomber jets and feed the metal material to the Stock Nanoplate and Heavenly Nanogauntlet for repair purposes.
[1x] I and the projected version of me start walking around aimlessly in various directions. There is genuinely no pattern in the walking, though the random path is determined in advance of motion and timed precisely. Once I completely randomly end up in the right place for this plan...
Light Expended! 1 CP expended!
A soft white glow issues forth from myself, precisely when either karp does a bind-attempt on the Stranger, or FF does something to them, or whatnot (if none of these things happen, then this occurs alongside my projection having some sort of seizure and speaking in two voices at once, as an alternate distraction which matches plausible outcomes.). For a fraction of a moment, the glow intensifies to a near-blinding shine, then it fades just as fast. During the fading period is precisely when a third layer of distraction activates, where the ice drone and a void drone charge towards the stranger, seemingly intent on ambushing them (starting far enough away that they won't actually reach the stranger before I no longer need a distraction; this is not their entity actions).
The purpose of the light? To obtain sufficiently precise knowledge of where Cake Guys Other Cake is, and pierce any layers of antimemeticism, scry-dampening, etc, and shine a piercing light through any physical barriers. And the one charge? To activate Cake Guys Other Cake with my descended power, which it is after all Made for.
Cake Guys Other Cake Activated!
CGOC Actions:
[1] cloak the reactivation from detection.
[1] If I do Not have the Crystalized Current's Conciousness Cleaver in my possession, locate it and, if possible, retrieve it.
[1] create something like an attack shield around the cake, conjuring a thin layer of abnormally durable distributed cake around the body which should block one attack before shattering.
[BONUS ACTION: ALCHEMY]
I send orders to a Facility Employee with a symbiote and the appropriate modified elemental skill levels with both Space and Time elemental magic, blood clones, and one or more highly destructive techniques, such as NLSD- near light speed dirt, where earth elemental manipulation is used to accelerate a small speck near the speed of light for an armor-piercing ability which pulverises the target and superheats the area- to rig up a small alchemiter, then alchemise The Shadows left(i think it was left?) arm. Before they initiate the alchemy, they are to create several blood clones, for more eyes and ears, and envelop themselves in a Time Dilation (speed increasing) effect, while enveloping the Alchemiter in a speed Decreasing effect. Space magic is to be used to prevent all outgoing signals by removing all paths a wave could travel which lead out of this very small zone. Then, as soon as the Alchemy has begun and the Shadows left arm begins to form even a little, they are to use their highly destructive technique to destroy the Alchemiter instantly before the process can continue, leaving a tiny scrap of shadows-left-arm-bits formed from the Alchemiter, then make use of time magic to completely stop the flow of time for this scrap (while continuing to isolate it spatially).
FACILITY ORDER: Start cloning another Soulless Amalgamation body. modifications from last time: integrate a lesser proportion of P5's DNA into the main body, but include samples from Ascended Astrec,Astrecs white hand, a dancing soldier, bobEOJ (gather these samples from the battlefield bobEOJ was on, since they probably shedded some hair or something. collect via drone), a drop of Tiamat liquid - retrieved by drone, but only if Tiamat agrees to that- some DNA from Harkener- again, assuming they agree and give a sample- The Shadow DNA, from that scrap that was alchemised above- and top it all off with Symbiote DNA, not to grant powers, but to mediate all of this wildly differing DNA.
The Torso, which is what is being cloned now, will be attached to six arms and up to three heads, each arm being specialised into one of the DNA types to a greater extent in order to allow for the full expression of the genetic information within the DNA without causing a highly muddled and useless central lifeform. So in summary, the DNA types to be used are (with possibly-not-included types in brackets):
I forget, Starmaker, P5 [Reduce emphasis], Iron Prince, Althea, The Herald, Ascended Astrec, Ascended Astrecs white hand, bobEOJ, (Tiamat), (Harkener), The Shadow, Dancing Soldier, and Symbiote.
Obviously, the scientists are to be very careful not to allow any genetic backdoors like my Symbiotes have from any of these other DNA sources, and make sure all the DNA works together, and discard the dancing soldier DNA if it turns out to be useless, etcetra, etcetra.
Entity Orders: Karp and Karps Ship are advised to flee, as long as it seems possible. It would be a waste to lose the Void VIII+I on This. If ""Karp"" wants to keep fighting anyway, then still have the Void VIII+I retreat, and its repair drones too, but blow some charge on binding up the Stranger and/or rendering them vulnerable. Try to do it in a unusual way to catch their interest, and try to imply this is a personal favour to me and not connected to the reason you came here to start with.
Scrounging through the metal, you only manage to increase Heavenly Nanogauntlet AC by 1. Using Light and a Charge, you locate... Cake Guy's Other Cake? and awaken it.
...This can only end well...
Inside its chamber, CGOC begins to probe its surroundings. Are you looking for... the Soul-Stone? It isn't anywhere nearby, except for... On the stranger!
He has it. He has the Soul Stone.
CGOC also does attempt to create an Attack Shield around The Cake, but it's in another room. Even then, it doesn't seem it would be able to generate an Attack Shield right now...
From the smoking remains of what was an Alchemiter, you acquire a sample of the Left Hand of The Shadow Alchemy. Additionally, you send out 6 drones to collect your desired DNA Samples: One to the main Theatre for Harkener, three to Tiamat's Palace for Ascended Astrec, Astrecs White Hand, and Tiamat (if she's present), one to where BOBeoj was, and one to the Battlefield for Dancing Soldier-blood.
Harkener shies away from the Collection Drone. "...I'm not ready to have a sample of my DNA existing in the past. Sorry."
The one sent for BOBeoj DNA enters the Godmodder's Biosphere. There, The Fourth Praetorian is playing baseball with him and a few other people. Against the protests of the others, the two of them see the Drone and wave.
"Goodbye!" "HI, MISTER JOE'S DRONE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
The nedben decides the alchemiter's preceding system is suspicious and opts to create a differently functioning item creation machine.
An abstract system appears, sort of like arbitrary magic boxes in inventory space, but with 5 slots and you can put anything in each (including multiple items), which is interpreted conceptually according to the slot (i.e. if you put in a depiction or symbolic representation like writing a word on a piece of paper, the thing represented is interpreted). If left blank, the options are completely random-generated: descendants can spawn paper and draw things so that's nonissue. The components are not consumed and the power is provided by the machine, so it'll take however long to make a result depending on power required (measurable in turns, probably same-turn or single-turn wait for mundane objects, more complicated and powerful tools might take a few turns, large entities would take very long to create, etc.). The new items really are new items being made: it is a fundamental wellspring of something that makes on as deep a level as invoked, or can be reached with what is available to it, not simply database copying. Production can be paused and tabled for later, such as if someone tries to make something excessively powerful but that'll take ages so you'll just pause it whenever someone else has another suggestion to run, or if lots of items are being made and you want to set priorities for what gets done first.
The five slots are:
Base: the power basis, the root of the aesthetic or wider concept cloud something manifests. Probably risky to put in things you didn't make because it might draw in systems we're trying to avoid? But you could get lucky.
Lens: the shape you're going to put the result and power in, influencing the wielding of the result and granting it a few extra abilities not tied to the base. Put in a gun to get a gun, put in a paper saying weapon to guarantee some form of weapon I guess, specificity or genericism vary per purpose.
Connector: how the lens interprets the base. A piece of paper saying 'of' serves as the default option and is generally recommended to be left intact if you don't have a good idea/general pretense is fine, but things like 'to', 'amplifying', 'purging', 'stealing', 'dominating', 'loudly', 'barista', all are valid, there is potential for unusual forms there.
Magnitude: something that symbolizes strength of capabilities and initial scope of the thing. Powerful influence on how long crafting takes and immediate applicability of the result. More powerful things take longer.
Variety: how many different things the result can be used for and its future potential, second largest influence on how long it takes to craft something. Things that have a quick growth rate of capabilities (or can be used for pretty much anything already, including arbitrary conjuring and reality alterations) will take longer to make than things that have only one purpose or things that don't really improve without external assistance.
Let's see how it goes.
The nedben sort of just stands there idly because he spent all his charge on that. Whoops.
NEW MECHANIC: The Fivefold Forge.
A method of Artifact Creation working through Bonus Actions. Running off of residual energy, the Fivefold Forge allows for group effort artifact creation.
To begin the creation process, start by adding items to the boxes. The end-product will be previewed every time you make changes to what's inside the Slots. Doing so is a Bonus Action.
The Fivefold Forge has a "Potential Reservoir". It's current cap'll right now be say... 50, but it can be increased with time. Increasing the Reservoir is done through Bonus Actions as well.
Each Artifact has a "Reservoir Cost". If there's enough energy to create the item, a player can claim and create the currently-previewed Artifact for a Bonus Action.
As if sensing a competitior, The Grand Alchemiter reignites.
The Grand Alchemiter.
A parallel Artifact-Creation System. Alchemical Artifacts cause Vulnerability. Creation involves the use of Logical Operators on items. Order of Operations has some degree of influence. Creation takes a Bonus Action. Alchemy name can be previewed for a Bonus Action.
Intruding? I can't read your mind... Unless you let me, hmhm!
They call me... the Arbiter. I guess I'm a Navigator? I can't do much other than offer guidance and support. Sorry.
Near the Gates of Celestia, a figure appears, clad in dark grey and blue robes, they appear to be human, with dark hair and blue eyes, with the slight point to their ears, a ivory staff in their hands.
"This...isn't the Ostagar, where are the other mages, Templar? Wynne? Maker, where am I?" The apprentice mage asks himself, before he winced, looking down at a cut that he had reciecived from a Darkspawn.
"That's not good, Blighted bastards." He mutters before clenching his staff, and cautiously looking around.
Let's see, pulling it up, ah right! The First Layer of Mount Celestia, Lunia, what's supposed to be the Silver Heaven looks more... tarnished. Tendrils of nanotech flow up and down the slopes, carrying what seem to be... sarcophagi. A reflective slick of metal floats above the waves of the Silver Sea, keeping even the waves down. Wait, does the Silver Sea even have waves? Does this Celestia have a moon to cause tides with? Questions, questions, questions.
"Harkener. The vast majority of my army here isn't prepared for the battle at Celestia. My heavenly host will be on the other side ready to hold up their end of the fight. As for the units here that are ready to move through the portal, they're yours to command until I return."
Nerà cuts through planar walls to create a portal directly to P3 and Boccob in Tiamat's lair. He arms himself with a Disintigration Rod and motions for Astrec to go in first. He follows the Ascendant through the portal to the Astral Plane.
Astrec, channels the full power of his Ascendency. Wings erupt from his back, pure white growths of light form armor, and he glances over at the Clockwork Armillary. Extending his raw power, essence, presence, attempting to cripple the thing's Morale and force it to his side.
"You are not relevant here. Join us or I will remove you."
Turning away from the Clockwork Armillary, he steps towards and through Nera'sa portal. Harsh white light glows from him, and he extends the same presence. "Prince. I have come for you. The time for negotiations is over. You have refused our offers, invaded these lands. You have no right here, no right to that tech, no rights to dare stand against our force."
Astrec expends 10 CP to supercharge the godarm. Black and white veins trace across it, and he levels it at the Prince, transferring it into the buster form. "Goodbye."
Astrec unleashes Oblivion Buster, unleashing a deadly beam of nothing onto the Prince. Gold waves mix with it, deconstructing every hostile thing nearby into mush. Then he steps forward and grabs the Prince, turning the arm back into a hand, using it to hold the prince up and smash him down into the ground. He then fires a beam of light down, smothering the other Descended in a wave of blazing light.
You effortlessly turn the Clockwork Armillary fully under your control, and leave to enter Tu'narath. You would release a spectacular display of energy and fire the Oblivion Buster, except... The Prince isn't there. At all. From what I can tell, he isn't invisible, He isn't standing anywhere, he just... not present. EOTB: Do you go to Celestia or not?
The PG Drones idle. They don't actually have any weapons at all. Harkener's arms buckle as he releases his planar breach. Seeing it fail to reseal itself, he telekineticaly stitches it together with a needle and thread. "Interesting. Did I hold it open too long?"
In the interest of speeding up this whole process, you all stream through the Portal to Celestia.
As stated before, Heaven is in chaos. To face the Iron Prince, the Throne of The Gods has animated, a living golden castle on legs. The battle rages on every level of the mountain, each a small war in it's own right. Standing on top of his Carrier, the Prince spots you from all the way down there. "Are you ready?"
Thousands upon thousands of slim figures begin to emerge from the technological sludge, vastly outnumbering the Skeleton Hordes on the First Layer.
THE IRON PRINCE TECHNOLOGICAL APOSTATE
How to Play:
((I think... I think this is our first Boss with over 1 million Hp? Finally. Elevation plays a big role in this battle: You gain Accuracy and Dodge Bonuses against people below you. Fight your way up to the top to confront the Prince. Unless blocked, all AG entities will move up by 1 Elevation per round. They (and you) can also move up by using a Bonus Action, but be wise in how far you go! As an advance warning, have very little idea of how balanced this battle's going to be. This might turn into a race of over and undercompensation. But Thanks to TOG, we can have reinforcements come in if required. Here goes... something.))
Within Tiamat's Palace, a small contingent of Githyanki accompanied with a Red Dragon come to meet you with drawn swords. "The Queen's Palace is currently off-limits to visitors. State your business!"
Much to his annoyance, Boccob's sword fades out of existence.
Pulling out a Rocket Launcher from somewhere, the Stranger launches a missile at JOE... only for it to pass through Projection-JOE instead. He curses you with strong language I'd rather not repeat. Pulling a stack of papers from somewhere, a statue that wasn't previously in the forest manifests: I can confirm that it has just spontaneously appeared. At his command, the Harrier Jets machinegun the Drones: 3 Void and Projection Drones destroyed; Ice, Repair and Research Drones take 30k damage each.
As a parting gift, the Void VII+I launches two missiles at the Harrier Jets, before flying off into orbit with the Repair Drones, who continue work on it, restoring 50k. The Void and Ice Drones work to down one of the missiled Harrier Jets, while Karpinsky shoots down the second with Marzanna's Sight. He nods, on-board with the plan to use charge to make The Stranger Vulnerable. At this moment, The Stranger is holding an Infinity Stone. Boosted with Charge, a sufficiently powerful attack will be enough to knock out his Invulnerability. ((At this point this is practically just a courtesy)) Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
Elemental Plane of Oblivion.
FIELD EFFECT: Oblivion. ???.
[PG] Godmodder Avatar. 1/1 Hp.
[AG] Smirk. 25/25 Charge. Has created a Metal Staff. [A] Nanosuit. Defense Mode: +5 AC. Durability: 2. Worn! Advantage: [Contested]
Heaven: Mount Celestia.
FIELD EFFECT: Elevation. +5% Dodge/Accuracy per Elevation! Positive-Dominant! Organic Creatures recover 20,000 Hp per round!
Forge: [Base: ][Lens: ][Connector: ][Variety: ][Magnitude: ]
AG Morale: 100%
"Yes, I had been asking Avernus to ask Alethea if she'd be willing to join a summit between her forces and the Descendants that have been in direct opposition to her, specifically the ones calling themselves the Centurions, presuming I successfully secure their willingness to attend. May I presume by you coming here that is a sign she would be at least somewhat interested?"
He then gets a message from Nerà about something she had seen through scrying. "Hm, would you know anything about a Godmodder known as the Pionomodder? It appears he has taken the elemental weapons of both earth and water, so I'm likely to go to his last known location once our dialogue has concluded."
With that he quickly tosses a probe designed simply to follow the signals of Elemental Earth and Water energies, and then sends it, under heavy cloaking (everything from thermal to electrical to visual to auditory. Thing might as well not exist to an outside observer), to the Pionomodder's last known location. "Speaking of said dialogue, we may wish to go to my newly crafted neutral zone to discuss. I have recently completed its functionality, so it would likely be beneficial for you to understand the setting for the meeting."
"This is Alethea speaking. I am one and the same."
You ask her about the Pionomodder. "Not Pionomodder, just Piono. Heavily augments his own abilities with Eidokinesis. Formerly Third, now Second-most powerful practitioner in The Void, though effectively the First. What else is there to say? I'm already there."
At the Neutral Ground, bits and bobs of static electricity coalesce and weave together to form the Godmodder.
The drone replies to "what are you doing here" with the words "Mad Science" in a haunting, echoing and highly dramatic quality. Then it elaborates that it is here for a sample of BOBeoj's DNA, but it can make do with fallen hairs or something, and quickly obtains a fallen piece of hair or something which presumably would've fallen off during all their exertion in this ball game. The Harkener-sent drone states that it's completely fine, don't worry about it. Other drones ask for samples as relevant.
[1x (portion here, continues after)] I use the Light special, or at least, start to. The ball of concentrated light forms...
[10 Charges] and then The Spaced Out Headband shimmers, forming a spacial distortion before me. On the other side of the distortion is the Discount Disparem, which I ask Zeyron to use at its full potential. By its power, the Light-ball is distorted, creating a Ball of thgiL. The First Light grants information; So the thgiL- Not void, because distortion is Imperfect- obscures information. the thgiL pulses out, covering the battlefield. some of it is concentrated around me, to conceal my actions in particular from sight, andto hide Zeyron from the Stranger's knowleOh for pete's sake... quiet. [I] don't have time for this... At any rate. The remainder- or rather, the majority- goes towards The Stranger, nullifying his precognition. Even if he already has StoneCopies of me... well first of all there are still hundreds of past-mes in the Stone, so he would be outnumbered in there and get no useful info. But second of all, all of those copies are from before that cyan-voiced two-faced idiot started being a notable influence again, so they won't help him. Then, I use the Light to forcefully and repeatedly reveal to reality that the Stranger is holding the Soul Stone, Repeating it loudly at the universe with all the subtlety of an Unskilled energy elementalist and the meticulous attention to and repetition of excruciating detail of a lawyer. This forces Reality to acknowledge it, and so forces the Stranger to become Vulnerable.
[1x] And the instant the Stranger becomes vulnerable, I use Blood on them, yoinking their charges...
[1x + any charge overfill from the use of Blood] Before they have a chance to respond to all this, I use the latent remnants of Time Energies around the Clockwork Carver, accelerating myself. Cloaked in the pieces of thgiL that I kept around myself, I dash closer to them and arrive less then a meter away in a moment. With precision, one hand of the Biosuit rips forwards, glowing weakly with the action power being channeled through it, and grabs the Soul Stone. It doesn't matter how the Stranger holds it; The repeated light-based universal knowledge of Every Inane Detail about the Stone hasn't ended yet. Even if it's embeded into the Strangers Body, AswirlofVintage magic destroys its way into it... oh, good, that seems to have tired their influence out for the round... ahem, uh, the magic is around my grasping hand, vibrant octarine and violet light a short distance from my skin, but there's no way to describe how the destruction happens; the things within reach are simply Gone, leaving only purple lightning dancing over the edge of the material left behind. My fingers snag the Soul Stone, then yank it away from the Stranger and into my Suit, to the true body within.
SUMMARY1: Using the Light Special, 10 Charges, and Zeyrons help,I force vulnerability by nulling the Precognition (via the inverted Light special), then repeatedly pointing out to reality that the stone is in the strangers hand and so they should be vulnerable. Then, I use Blood to siphon as many charges as I can in the window of vulnerability, before proceeding to steal the Soul Stone from them.
[Bonus: I slot the concept bundle 'Concepts of Ice-Stasis-Electricity-Cannon-power' into the Base slot. That's the concept-bundle used to make the CCCC, by the way.]
[CGOC ACTION 1] ...In case you're wondering about why His influence is popping up again, well, controlling two bodies isn't easy. I can manage it, but if one of the bodies has a natural inhabitant fighting back... It's not even about raw force, I just can't dedicate enough focus to it. Anyway... I don't alert the Janitor. forming an Aether construct within my cakey flesh- something established back in the Thanos Fight- I passive-scan the entire complex for the Hilt of the CCCC, just to make sure as to whether it's there.
[CGOC ACTION 2] Hm. I can't do much visibly without bringing attention... I conjure a Cake Polyp. It's actually a very complicated organism, but it looks exactly like the Cake Residue you would expect to be left behind on the ground after a Cake splorshes along it without any platter below. I'm quite capable not to use any Reality-Warping on it directly; the substance of the Polyp is a mixture of pure mundanity, and the instability of the natural laws of a particular set of pocket dimensions/planes/subverses/i don't know the term known as 'The Warp' obtained via self-sustaining microgates. Assuming the Stranger hasn't investigated those particular places, the Polyp's nature should be opaque to them, giving it the ability to quietly spread throughout the base until it reaches its fruiting stage and starts conjuring hordes of disposable purpose-made cake soldiers.
[CGOC ACTION 3] Of course, I'm not confident the Stranger Hasn't Investigated the Warp, so I spend This action conjuring a different, albeit quite similar conceptually, threat. X(A/N)th -ian magic is very bizarre and oft' inconsistent, But even so, and even with the obscurity of it, I can't be confident it isn't something the Stranger knows about. I Can be sure they don't know about the Higher Energy of the Genesis System: Concealment. And the reason I can be sure about that is that the Genesis's Higher Energies are unique to each user, conforming to their own conceptions. Using the Higher Energy: Concealment, I Conceal my second creation, X(A/N)th magic powered. It is known as the Brain Cakeral. Its intellect is middling, but will grow vast as its spreads; its power, or Talent, is to nudge by seeming chance events according to its desire while concealing that anything is amiss at all. Its appearance is undetectable; Not only does its Talent give it an implicit mildly antimemetic nature, in a way not susceptible to Mnesthetic medication due to its manipulation of external chance, but the Higher Energy of Concealment contains all relevant energy signatures insofar as this is possible; the only visible sign of its presence will be the absence of whatever the Cakeral consumes for its growth. And, of course, if the Cakeral reaches sufficient levels of power, it will be able to use its excess X(A/N)thian magic to create creatures such as Will o'wisps, Golems, or the dreaded 'Wiggles', to serve it... Well, that's quite far off in any case. I leave the Cakeral to its own devices for the moment.
SUMMARY2: I scan for the CCCC's Handle, then conjure two very subtle infestations to cause the Stranger all sorts of trouble if he doesn't deal with them, one only detectable if the stranger has investigated Ravager territory and Marconen, and the other only detectable if they've investigated Xanth, the Genesis System, and achieved a complete comprehension of all or nearly all human or Cake-comprehensible concepts including the blatantly false ones.
Entity Orders: Repair drone repairs the void viii+i. other drones attack the jet or whatnot as relevant. The Facility sends another like, 5 drones in as reinforcements.
The Fourth Praetor bobs his head up and down. "MAD SCIENCE? I LOVE MAD SCIENCE!!" he lowers his voice. "Can i… can i help?"
As the Tu'ranath Drone approaches the Master Gish, they politely decline, but you do receive the rest of your desired samples. All your Drones will return to the lab with the samples they've received.
Opening a Portal to Zeyron with the Spaced Out Headband, he agrees to create a Distorted Duplicate of your Light-sphere by Awakening Discount Disparem, which you use to nullify his precognition, taking out his SHp. Boosted with the power of Light, you affirm to the world again and again that he is holding the Soul Stone, battering away at his vulnerability.
The Stranger takes a step towards you, golden light dripping from his palms. Fading into view, Karpinsky locks him with a Full Nelson.
"The mission's gone belly up, hasn't it? I need to regroup, plan things out. Consider this my farewell gift: Suit, Decima Protocol." 20 Charge expended. In a flash of light, Karpinsky and his equipment disintegrates away, leaving behind nothing but his skeleton. A strange power radiates from Karpinsky's bones, affecting all powers. The Stranger falls to the ground, vulnerable.
Activating Blood, you transfuse Charge from the Stranger to yourself. As it courses through the Biosuit and into your body, a scream echoes through your mind. Was that… Ishmael? 15 Charge gained. 30 Charge taken. Blood Power revoked.
You attempt to take the Soul Stone from The Stranger, but what was supposed to be a Vintage disintegration instead turns into an awkward grapple.
CGOC searches for the CCCC. It isn't present in the facility. They then create the Cake Polyp and Brain Cakeral.
Me -> Retcon the GORILLA out of what was previously here.
At first, there was nothing in that particular space. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, I am here... with a strangely aware glance around me, almost as if able to see beyond the standard veil of reality here.
I consider my approach. If I enforce too many rules on this battle or their workspace, I could disrupt the battle through a lengthy conversation. That could prove disastrous to... well, a lot.
I guess I'll just be cautious while laying down a few base rules for my existence here - ones that shouldn't harm any overlying structures of this battle, anyways. Here goes.
1 - I am not in this place to fight... yet. I'm here to observe and figure out this Arbiter figure, mainly. They seem interesting.
2 - Does Neutral exist as an alignment on this field here? If so I'm that for now.
3 - Depending on the need of the situation, my presence is very subject to change.
Finally, I'll... uh, I guess I'll save up a charge, assuming those exist, and inexplicably wave directly at the Arbiter's camera thing through which they are viewing us.
"Arbiter? Navigator? Hm, I suppose it doesn't matter what you call yourself, so long as your intent is not malicious. If you are indeed present to provide guidance and support, then tell me, Arbiter, what should I be doing now?"
The Godmodder intends to reach Indalo Station, capital of the greatest multiversal Empire in the Void. One of her partners, the Third Praetorian is attacking the universe of a fellow ally, and we are currently hoping to repel his invasion. Reach the top of Mount Celestia, and stop him before he destroys the Throne of The Gods.
"Sniping Heaven Bird. Pierce the layers and reveal if the foe is borrowing the accursed way. (I'm sorry, Lord Altrin has taken the gamepiece.)"
The nedben, having no patience for walking over there, fires off a bird of light, which proceeds to zigzag around at lightspeed and burrows into P3's armor once it finally gets up there (after compensation for dodge, of course: it can just fly around and try again repeatedly if it keeps missing), contaminating it with formless armor-reducing curses and maidenly oaths of dispelling and counter-integrity. If nothing else, we might as well make it easier for others to shoot them down while we're busy fighting our way over.
As a bonus action, this is also a scan (by means of very aggressive decomposition analysis). What defense package is the Third Praetorian running? Might as well get them known quickly and countermeasures prepared.
Streaking directly towards the P3 in a beeline, or rather a birdline? Anyhow. It abruptly arcs around him before recontinuing in a straight line past his back. Turning around, it reacquires him as a target, only to be forced to curve around him again. Unable to strike him, it loops around him like a halo, analyzing his defenses in particular.
[PG] The Third Praetorian. 70/70 Hp. 15 Armour. Elevation: 7.
ACTION
???: ???
PASSIVE
Siderium: Armour primarily composed of unique non-alchemical, yet conceptually imposed iron. Cannot be affected by Eidokinesis. Takes over electronic devices brought into immediate proximity.
Sol Messiah: Divine Manipulation of Light. In addition, rolls twice to determine accuracy in his favour. Attackers roll twice to determine dodge in their favour.
Nerà gates Astrec back to Celestia at the location of their choosing.
"I am certain Tiamat will allow an exception for the Lord of her domain in Hell, the God Boccob. And myself, of course. We come with urgent information that Tiamat must hear in order to save our universe from utter annihilation, something I know none here want and so none of you will delay us."
Full Round Action: Mount Celestia trembles with Divine energies, as the collective force of thousands of mortals whose power is derived from the Throne grant it their energy, allowing for an explosion of divine magic to burst from the seat of the gods, devastating the PG forces.
Auma channels a spell through the Swisarmyknifemodder, making the whole AG side Light (heh). Any AG can perform a Bonus Actions' worth of ascent with a mere Free Action. Auma fires a Star at the Experi-mentals.
The two Giants capable of flight soar upwards, with the Cloud Giant casting their support spell on the Experi-mentals while the Storm Giant uses their special on the enemy horde. Both Chuck rocks at the horde as well.
The Stone Giants and T-Rex charge the Experi-mentals, attacking them with all their strength.
The Divine Soul heals the Storm Giant, and then soars upwards on angelic wings.
Iron Golem 1 is teleported back to Celestia's base, spewing it's poison onto the enemy horde, rendering them extra vulnerable to magical attack.
The Dracoliches and Heavenly Host ascend and, along with the elevated Epic Wizards, all rain various forms of magical devastation onto the Downwards Defense Grid.
The two Iron Gears pick up a Hekatonkhier and toss it down onto the Unmanned Ray below.
Piloted by the ace daughter of Nerà, 7th of the Neranyëphim, named only G by her father (though Gloria Phi-Nerà by herself), The 4th Talos (Talons is plural of Talos) manifests a sword of bonedust, held together by a field of necrotic energies that animates it to vibrate at an impeccably high speed. Swinging the Gargantuan Bonesaw, the 4th Talos cuts into the two Heratonkhiers remaining at her elevation.
The Gish recognizes you, and bows. "Greetings, Lord Neranyë. The Queen is aware of recent events, and has accordingly taken them into consideration. If you have anything else you wish to say, speak now. The Queen is listening."
Mount Celestia erupts with a massive column of Ether, striking the Third Praetorian right in the face. 10 Damage.
The blast cracks his mask, and causes him to shed a layer of his armour. "Oh. It's on."
((At this current moment, attacking everything with your powers wouldn't be able to pierce the AC of anything, making it practically useless, sooo...))
Astrec looks through the portal, Ascended eyes analyzing the situation.
"The Prince is out of my reach. We'll have to.. fight our way up to him. Let me get a disguise."
Astrec expends a charge of Body, transforming himself into.. Karpinsky. Then he reaches up and grasps the air, a capsule summoned to his hand. Kneeling, he cracks it open, and from it pours a couple hundred nanomachines. They curl around him, and with a infusion of 10 CP to give this attack power, they begin to duplicate, thousands of nanomachines forming armor around Karp!Astrec as he steps through the portal. The horde forms floating stairs as Astrec joins the fray, carrying him up, then forming rockets on his armor. Astrec leaps up and jets towards the Wall. As he does so, he forms a mask over his disguised face, changing his voice to that of Karp. "Iron Prince! I've.. come for you. Do not hide behind your armies! Come down and face us."
He freezes in front of the Wall, and fires the nanomachines forward, commanding the swarm to eat away at the wall.
Pink fire engulfs your face, transforming you into a physical copy of Karpinsky! Getting up to the wall, your nanomachines clash against those of the Prince's, annihalating each other! 225k damage to the wall!
From far above, the Prince laughs. "Not this time." he spreads his arms wide open. "This is my strength. Show me yours." The Throne of The Gods casts Energy Substitution Meteor Swarm, aiming all 4 shots directly upon the Prince. Conjured spheres of frozen stone uselessly explode against his armour into sub-zero temperatures. That attempt useless, it sends two bolts of Positive and Negative energy towards the Heavenly Host and Skeleton Armies respectively, bolstering their numbers by 150k and 300k.
Turning his attention towards the lower battlefield, he takes a closer look at Karpinsky. Seven miniature suns grow into existence around the Third Praetor's head, his own Crown of Stars. With a flick of his hand, he sends them flying forwards to explode into globs of plasma around them, perfect mediums for Fire Elementals to manifest through. Directing the Lucrehulk's turbolasers, he takes potshots upon the AG forces. 1 Epic Wizard downed with a critical hit. 20 Damage to the other 3. 250k to the Heavenly Host. Acting with coordination, an Attack ship fires on the Talos of Nerà, only for their Hard-Light Projection-shaft to bounce off. As such, the rest reacquire their sights to target an Iron Gear instead. With 2 Critical hits, they deal 115k damage, heavily mitigated from the Golem's very well-crafted armour plating. The Carriers pelt a Skyfortress with railgun slugs for 200k, at the same time releasing a swarm of drone-fighters from the bottom of their hulls. Said Skyfortress makes Morale, and rains countless Adamantine-tipped arrows upon the Experi-Mentals for 230k, while their partner casts Dust Devil Angel, a kicking up a monstrous whirlwind of Celestial Soil that knocks a Carrier down a level, making them take 50k damage in the process.
Their blades too weak, the Hundred-Handed ones instead lift chunks of Heavenly Marble from the slopes of the mountain, using it to crush the Talos of Nerà for 132 total damage. In response, the Talos slices into two of the Hekatonkhieres for 26 Damage each, while the Iron Gears toss the Third down a level into the Unmanned Ray, the two of them taking 6 and 35k damage respectively.
Staggering from the throw, the Unmanned Ray rapidly reacquires it's balance before releasing a salvo of missiles. 10 Damage to 5 Dracoliches, 15 Damage to 2 others, 150k damage to the Heavenly Host.
The Downwards Defense Grid whirrs to life, 10 stationary monocular turrets evaluating their best course of action. Taking aim with Dark Matter Cannons, two slightly patch up the wall, adding 150k, three fire upon the Heavenly Host for 225k, another blasts away at the Skeleton Horde for 75k, and with great difficulty, the remaining four shoot at A'tuin, forcing their leave from the battlefield.
The Experi-Mentals tear away at the Skeleton Horde for 770k Damage, while the Skeleton Horde retaliates by dealing 205k damage of their own. Harkener takes a moment to recover from his previous exertion, gasping for breath. Auma's spell allows for all allies to to ascend one level once per round for free. A massive display of magic, it ripples across the entire plane. Then, he flicks one of his stars at the Experi-Mentals to deal 50k damage.
Rising, up, the Storm and Cloud Giants throw a Thunderbolt and Boulder at the Experi-mentals, boxing them in with fogbanks. The Divine Soul follows them, raising the Storm Giant's Hp up to a neat 100k. The Stone Giants and Tyrannosaurus charge forwards, attacking the Experi-mentals as well. Finally, the Iron Golem blasts a Glibglobink Shell at the horde, weakening them to the effects of magic. In total, they deal an absolutely incredible 465k to the horde.
Taking advantage of Auma's spell, the Dracoliches and Heavenly Host both move up a level and attack the Defense Grid together with the Epic Wizards. The First Wizard casts Crown of Stars, collectively granting the Heavenly Host 7. The Second Wizard casts Earthquake, dealing 30k to every turret in the Downwards Defense Grid. The Third Wizard casts Thunder Step on all the Allied Forces in the Third Layer. In doing so, they generate a massive Sonic Boom, dealing another 80k damage to the Downwards Defense Grid. Now on the Fourth Layer, the Heavenly Host easily finishes all of them off.
The Githyanki remain at ease, waiting for Nera to speak.
"Do͋ͥ̎̃͠ ͌ͣ̀̾̓̎ÿͪŏ̌ͦ̔ͤū ͊͋̊̐̾͋ͯr͑̅ͤ̉eͦͦ̐ͧ͐̽q͂͘ûͥ̊i̢̒͐̍re̅ͮ ̋̄̒̿ͭ́p̡ͯͮ͋ͮͣͤͭṙ͛͌̾̆o͐̄̕o̿f̒̓ ̵̋̑ͦ͊ͩo̍̇͗̌fͥͦͪ̒ ̸̔́̽̅͊ͧ̀m̉̿͊yͮ̒̇ͩ ̑̓̅͑ȧ̵ͪ̂ͣt͌̂ͣ̏̑͛t̡͂́͐ͪͬeͧ̄̓n̄ͮ͛̈ͪ͠t̿̊ͭ̆̒͘ȉ̡̉̄o͂̀͊ͬ̋͑̓n͐͗̓̎̒͆͢?̡́̈͊̋͑ͮ " "Will this suffice?" "I hear through the salt of your sweat and tears." "Speak quickly." "O̭r̙̞̝̬̮̘̘͘ ̰͓̗͚̪̦ń̳͖͚̯̘̘ͅo̩̟͎̱̯̞t͇͝ ̵̫͉à̮̬̲͈t̙̩͚̟̖̲ ̦͍̯̠̣̣̝a̤̲̺̯͈̫̯l̡͙͍̮l̵͕͙̖͇̪̹̤.̖̖̕"
Breathing heavily, the Stranger grapples JOE with a toothbrush in hand. He drags its bristles across the Biosuit, cleaving through everything that isn't flesh, cutting away at the armour it's built up. Biosuit Armour reset to 0. Stock Nanoplate destroyed.
"Damn you, damn Karpinsky and his fucking makeshift reality anchor made from his own corpse. Damn Karpinsky again for finding this place, thinking he can just barge in and do whatever he wants. Damn you again, because you might actually succeed. I should be in control here. I! The Chemist! O5-32! I AM IN CONTROL HERE! ME!"
Harrier Jets shoot down the Drones, but JOE's summoned even more.
"HOW MANY FUCKING DRONES DO YOU HAVE!? You know what? It doesn't matter. ACTIVATE ON-SITE WARHEAD. Think you can survive this? I don't think so."
...
Up in space, the Repair Drones restore another 50k Hp to the Void VIII+I, uncloaked and in near-earth orbit. In the distance, a Planetary Defense Destroyer approaches the craft. Itinerary:
Stop Alethea!
Stop The Invasion:
[GM] The Godmodder. 48/80 Hp. Elemental Plane of Oblivion.
FIELD EFFECT: Oblivion. ???.
[PG] Godmodder Avatar. 1/1 Hp.
[AG] Smirk. 25/25 Charge. Has created a Metal Staff. [A] Nanosuit. Defense Mode: +5 AC. Durability: 2. Worn! Advantage: [Contested]
Heaven: Mount Celestia.
FIELD EFFECT: Elevation. +5% Dodge/Accuracy per Elevation! Positive-Dominant! Organic Creatures recover 20,000 Hp per round!
Forge: [Base: ][Lens: ][Connector: ][Variety: ][Magnitude: ]
AG Morale: 100%
