Of spells, swords and eating habits

[Valmark]

-----Ch.1 The Fissure Temple-----

The Witherion, a merchant ship of Hollow class (famous for being slow but very spacious, usually used to trasport large shipments or mechas/mecha parts) is currently stationed at the MM-1. As of now, the gigantic cargo hold is wide open as an unusually large wheeled container completely sealed is being brought on board, along with mechas and mining strumentation. Such cargo could easily hold something like 8 mecha, it's basically the size of a small ship. The ship is supposed to sail within two hours, as to give everyone the time to settle in.

All of you are outside, tending to your bussiness.

Your servants are bringing your stuff on board, while you're free to do whatever you want. The ship is of your family, and apparently there are actually military on board, thought it's simply because the shipment needs extra protection apparently. The head of your family explicitly forbade you from inquiring after the cargo, which apparently is left to the military to handle. Luckily, of said military there are only three people, together with their chief, the captain Kyle. You know him only slightly, and you've yet to talk once to him.

You, and your drones, are inside the wheeled cargo. It has been fitted as you wish, thought you're forbade from going outside, and there are no windows or anything that might allow you to peek outside. You know that Kyle should check on you before the departure, but aside from that you've just been told that you'll be transported to a place where you'll have to... "dig"

You're giving the orders to your men. Two of them are mercenaries assolded for this mission, while three others (who know of Kiyah) are military men personally choosed by you. Aside from them there's the normal crew of the ship, including security who thought doesn't have mechas and don't know of Kiyah. Also, you know that the scion of the noble family that lent the ship will be boarding to, whitout knowledge of what the true purpose of the ship is (meaning no knowledge of Kiyah). You're supposed to make things clear to your men and then check on Kiyah, who is in the whelled cargo, before the departure.

You're mercenaries assolded for the mission, to bolster the mecha equipped troops. Along with you are three military men and Kyle, the one supposed to be your captain. Also, you know nothing of the wheeled container that you supposedly are protecting together with the ship, which makes all this very suspicious. But really, who said that you're her because it's a simple mission?

In the station you can basically find anything, from equipment to mecha parts to bars to souvenirs...

[darkninja0200]

Military Personnel on a Merchant ship. Jane would be less suspicious if this were a military ship. But it wasn't her place to ask. She was simply a hired hand to help bolster the mech troops. But she couldn't help but wonder what was in those 8 crates. It was abnormally large. Such a thing could fit Vadol within if it were crouched. Well whatever it was she hoped it wasn't a bad thing. Then again from what she had learned of the world, it was hard to tell who was bad or who was good. She had already finished prepping Vadol for loading and was now just shadow boxing off to the side still within view of her assignment, but out of the way of others. She was a weird one. All she had on her were the bright, but last generation old clothing, and Vadol. She had claimed that she didn't need much more then her fists. She had mostly come because of a few things. Vadol was gong to need repairs sooner or later, she was going to need something better then living on berries, but most importantly she was here to find her family, which she had learned may have possibly gone up into space. She knew that if she hired herself out as a mercenary she'd eventually find them.

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah sat in her holding chamber, bored and impatient, and largely unconcerned with the towering creatures which remained dormant along with her. This was so unfair, the way she was being treated! It would be one thing if she’d been misbehaving lately, getting punished like this. But ever since she’d been told about being sent on a field mission, Kiyah had been on extra-good behavior. She’d been polite with her handlers, answered all their questions, and even made sure to stay will within her holding parameters so as to keep her guards at ease. All of that was to make sure she didn’t get pulled from this opportunity to get out of the house, really stretch her legs (All six of them) and see some new worlds.

Not to mention to feast that she’d been promised. Earth soil was rich in vitamens and nutrients, but eat to much of the same thing and you start craving exotic flavors. This world they were going to had her drooling at the thought of it, provoking a load gurgle from her stomach as it greedily demanded to be satisfied.

And sure, she was totally going on the mission, and that was exciting and all…but were she to be honest, getting locked up in this big cargo container was totally lame. She wanted to walk around, look at the ship and meet her crewmates, not be stuck in some stupid box just waiting to get rolled out when needed. It had her in a rather pouty mood, the kind that normally could be solved by munching on a few hundred gallons of ice cream and watching some trashy romantic comedy. But she’d already eaten almost all of her budgeted in-flight snacks, and whoever packed her in-flight entertainment obviously hadn’t put a lot of thought into it. Everyone knows “50 Shades of Gray Render” was just cheap mass-consumer garbage compared to “The After-Dusk Saga”.

So the Einst Queen Fidgeted restlessly, hoping that it wouldn't be to long a wait before she could get the heck out of the chamber.

[YuweaCurtis]

Kyle sighs as he looks at the clipboard. He already wasn't too big on leadership, and doing the sort of duties that one would do off the battlefield irratated him even more. He nods and hands it to the one female officer that accompanied him. "I will brief you, the men, and those mercenaries after I inspect my equipment. Please make sure they are ready." This said, he immediately draws his sword and looks it over, inspecting the sheath as well before placing it back in. He would check the shield strapped to his back before moving to the mech bay.

Going into the boarding area, he would then look at his mech from afar. This is the first time he was issued a custom unit despite his special assignment. He gets nervous as he sees the equipment he requested... What if it wasn't the proper choices? Not like he had much access to gear out on the field. He sighs. It should be fine, there shouldn't be any trouble, right?

[DoctorFaust]

Evie sits in one of the corners of the cargo bay, running a whetstone down the blade of her scythe and trying very hard to decide whether she had made a mistake in taking money from the Lelitians. Even after leaving the military, long held ways of thinking are hard to break, and between her views on the government and all the secrecy about the cargo they're transporting, she's starting to think going on the mission was a mistake. But the Lelitian's coin is just as good as the Rodanian's and she had needed that cash advance badly to pay off debts. So here she was, sitting in the belly of a merchant ship under the direct control of someone she would've been fighting tooth and nail two years before.

Eventually she sighs, knowing that she can't district herself with introspection forever, and heads over to greet the other mercenary sans scythe. She has to fight down the urge to salute the captain as she passes him, but successfully makes it to the boxing woman without making too much of a fool of herself. "Hey," she says, leaning on a wall near her. "Looks like we'll be working together for the job. You a freelancer as well?"

[RdMarquis]

Renette held her newspaper as though it would ward off the man and woman standing close by. Ostensibly, they were assigned by her House to look after her. She was sure the two were there to keep tabs on her. Renette scowls behind the paper. She expected her family would eventually catch up with her. Having to work with a unit under her parents' command was another issue entirely. How was she to get free again?

She sighs. The front page, covered in the exploits of Lelitia's own Dragonslayer, was not proving to be much of a distraction. She had heard the news a few days before. Her oldest sister Freyja had shot down Hyperion Carda, the Rodanian ace known and feared as the "Dragon of Orvelis". Renette unconsciously touches a hand to the dog tags around her neck. The man who had killed her twin.

In recognition of her accomplishment, Freyja had received a promotion to captain, as well as the Order of Leo. Renette couldn't bring herself to feel happy. Pride for Freyja, surely, but not joy at the announcement. Revenge wouldn't bring Iris back to life. For all she knew, the Dragon had family of his own. A wife or husband. Friends. If not for this accursed war, neither he nor Iris would have had to die.

Putting aside the newspaper, she stood and walked over to a window. "I'm just stretching my legs," she told a watching servant. "No need to sound the alarm."

[darkninja0200]

Jane was in the zon. Combos, knees, side steps, forward, back. It was like she was fighting an actual opponent. Then she heard the voice. She stopped mid swing and looked to the person in her frozen position.. She stood straight up and cocked her head to the side as she looked upward "Uh, yeah. I guess you could call me that. I'm Jane smith" She steps forward with a smile offering her fingerless gloved hand to Evie. "Jane Smith, and your name would be?". She looked the fellow merc up and down, sizing her up, maybe she might prove a good sparring partner.

[DoctorFaust]

Evie takes the offered hand, staring the other woman in the eyes. "Evie Forst," she replies. "The red mecha over in the corner is mine." She smiles at the other woman and squeezes down on her hand before letting go and settling back, arms folded. "So, you do boxing, I take it?"

[darkninja0200]

Jane's grip is strong, like someone who spent years with a clenched fist, and working out every muscle in her arm and hand. She smiles and motions to Vadol. "The big one is mine". Indeed it was a big boy. It stood several heads taller then the others and was overall bulkier. That kind of mecha was a rare sight. "I actually study the western school of the Brawling Arts. It is more then just mere boxing" She wagged her Finger at Evie and gave her a grin. "I can give you a demonstration if you like. Maybe a full contact spar?"

[NineOfSpades]

"Urg, this is so annoying..." Kiyah groned, talking to her drones. The monsterous beasts, as always, did not respond. Their minds were not developed when it came to speech processing, and Kiyah knew that, but having something to talk to was better than nothing, if only just. "I mean, I gotta figure that we're almost there by now. We've been in this ball for...oh right, there's no clocks in here. Feels like a few days at least." Patience was not exactly a weakness for Kiyah, or at least if you asked her about it, she'd say she was pretty patient. Granted, her psych-profile listed her as, quote, prone to erratic behaviors when not properly stimulated. So take of that what you will.

Are we there yet? Can I come out now? Because If I have to stay in here one more minute, I'm going to go out of my mind! Kiyah thought, projecting the message to Kyle. Or at least, that had been her intent. But, given that she was locked up with no visual access outside of her container, there wasn't really any means to dial in on a specific thought-pattern. So she'd just given it as a general broadcast, short range to the area around the container's exterior. Afterall, Kyle was probably the only person hanging around the container, right? So, to Kiyah at least, it seemed unlikely anyone else would get the message. In fact the odds against such a thing were like, what, one in a hundred?

And really, even if she was wrong, what were they going to do to punish her? Lock her up in a different container?

[RdMarquis]

"Pardon me?" Renette was answered only with blank stares. "Never mind..." She reaches into her suit jacket for her phone, raising an eyebrow as it indicated there was no call in progress. Just for good measure, she puts on her earpiece. More silence. What was that? She could swear she heard a voice. Renette considers pinging her mech to see if her "copilot" wanted anything.

[DoctorFaust]

"No, I'm good on that sort of stuff, thanks," Evie replies, waving away the offer. "I had to do some unarmed fighting when I first enlisted, but I was always awful at it."

When the voice appears in her mind, she spins around to see if anyone new entered the bay. "So, uh, you hear that too?" she asks Jane. "Or am I starting to go off the deep end this early in the mission?"

[darkninja0200]

Jane was the first t let go of Evie's hand, and crossed her arms, sighing. "That right there is the reason why you weren't good. Saying you're not good is a defeatist statement. In order to get good you must try. Work with your strengths, improve your weaknesses. Then you can work your way toward becoming a top fighter" She nodded with her index finger raise above her crossed arms.

As she heard the voice she turned around looking for the source of it. From what she saw it was just the two of them, and it didn't sound like Evie. "Yyyyyeeeaahh, I heard that too... but I'm not sure where it came from". Now she was on alert for a moment. She scanned the area for anything amiss, moving her vision slowly, looking up, down, and around, keeping her vision from going into tunnel mode.

[NineOfSpades]

“Oh, that’s…not great” Kiyah said aloud to herself, though perhaps it could have been construed as her talking to one of her drones. In, as had been previously established, 100 to 1 odds, it seemed that her thought-cast had been picked up by some decidedly unintended recipients. Now, this might not have been a problem, in and of itself. Had an errant iguana or particularly astute mastiff gotten tuned in to her psychic message, then no harm done, since they were unlikely to spill the beans.

Her mental processes, fast though they may be, were momentarily distracted with a pondering on how best to prepare mastiff, iguana, and beans into a meal. Maybe a stew? Or cook them mastiff like ribs with a lizard glaze and beans on the side, that could be nice. Or kebabs! With a three course buffet of seafood, wild mushrooms, and human flesh, all slathered in honey mustard and drizzled with butter. Of course any such meal would need an appetizer, and some nice beverage selections. Heck, why not go all out and start with a pre-meal luncheon of Hippopotamus and Red Oak trees.

A small splash of drool shook her back to the matter at hand, even as the last visions of banquet halls still danced through her head. In what everyone would certainly agree was a purely not-her-fault happenstance, she might have technically breached containment. Just a little bit. But this wasn’t a problem, right? Or it wouldn’t be, so long as she addressed the issue quickly and professionally. If she showed responsibility and maturity, then nobody would have reason to punish her for, and this could not be emphasizes enough, a really unlucky mistake that when you stopped and thought about it, couldn’t possibly the result of Kiyah’s actions. If anything, she was a victim here, too!

So, just take responsibility, and acknowledge what was happening. Er…This is the ships PA system…we are having some technical malfunctions at the moment. Disregard any abnormal messages you are hearing. Or may have heard previously. Or will hear in the future. Not this message though, don't disregard the current message, which is very real. I…er, I mean, We thank you for your cooperation. Sooooo...have a nice day. Um...over. Or lie. Lying works to. Everyone knows lies made up on the spot are totally the sort to pass the test of scrutiny and resolve any problem in a snap.

Kiyah hit her head against the side of her container, bemoaning her poor decision making when under pressure like this.



BLUFF CHECK: [roll0] Probably at at least a -5 or more for an unbelievable cover story

[Valmark]

Even if before many where normal, now everyone is giving themselves questioning looks, thought they don't seem much interested.
While Kyle knows exactly what happened, all of you make a sense motive check. DC 11. Yeah, it's mainly for laughs in this case.

[YuweaCurtis]

Kyle was heading back towards the area he designated for the briefing when he hears Kiyah's message in his head. He sighs and pivots on his heels to head more directly towards the container. "Kiy-" he starts, about to enter her holding area. But he's stopped dead in his tracks when her second message comes about. It takes him a few minutes, but he realizes what happened. He shakes his head and enters. "I told you to wait cause I will be here...."

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah did her best to look innocent as Kyle entered the sealed chamber. This was still a salvageable situation, afterall. Heck, technically speaking she hadn't violated any of the protocals she was under. The record will clearly show that at no point did she exit the carrier without permission. The spirit of that order might be broken to pieces, but the letter was still standing firm.

"So you did, and here you are. How's things going? We ready to disembark?" She said, casually, leaning her shoulders against the smooth gunmetal grey wall, arms folded in a nonchalant manner infront of her. Just play it cool and pretend everything's fine. That's the trick here.

[YuweaCurtis]

Kyle just looks at her irritably. "Let's hope you convinced them, cause you certainly aren't convincing me... he begins. He really didn't want to deal with creating a cover up, but his mind was already sorting through them due to the necessity of his job. He really didn't want to, but he would have to reprimand her some way.... After dealing with the situation at hand. Keeping his face stern, he would continue to speak. "What were you thinking? Now I'm going to have to make sure no one cares enough to go looking into the weird voice that just came from no where." The stress was evident on his face... But Kiyah would know that he has the most issue with having to deal with covering it up and that he wasn't too angry at her. His composure relaxes a bit, "Well, I did have something tasty for you, but I can't give it to you now." he says half apologetically.

[DoctorFaust]

"You know," Evie says slowly, "I'm not sure why, but I don't really think the voice is telling the truth. I'm going to see if I can't find the captain and ask if we're going to have to deal with a stowaway. You want to tag along?"

[NineOfSpades]

"Now hang on, that doesn't seem fair" Kiyah wined with a childish pout "The rules said I had to stay in the container, and I did! And, as a matter of fact, I should keep my chief handler, aka you, updated as to my current mental and emotional state, which is hard to do if I'm in here and you are out there" Kiyah stopped, thinking that was a good punchy counterpoint to argue on, but as an afterthought, she continued "And besides, all this secrecy seems kind of pointless doesn't it? What do you expect is going to happen when we get to this planet anyway? I can't exactly do my job if I'm still locked up in here, and if the folks out there are supposed to provide security, they are probably going to have to see me while I'm doing my thing. All this hush-hush is just delaying that, and for no real good reason."

[RdMarquis]

Renette stared in the direction she judged the voice to be coming from, not quite sure how to react. "Who was that?" She smiles briefly in spite of herself. Probably someone who hit the wrong button while playing around with the audio controls. Renette turns and pokes the nearest member of her retinue in the shoulder. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee. I assume you'll be hovering over me all the while, so let me buy you one, as well." She turns to leave the cargo bay.

[darkninja0200]

[roll0]

Jane cocked her head, "I dunno sounds believable to me" She then looked to Evie for a moment. "Buuuut, I suppose I can humor you" Even if it was a stowaway she could let something like that slide. Everyone has somewhere to go afterall. She could sympathize with something like that. "Lead the way" she smiled.

[Valmark]

When Renette goes to the coffee shop everyone turns to look at her, noticing the remarkable quality of the clothes or maybe even recognizing her. The clero seems quite happy of this: wealthy people can leave bigger tips.
"Good day, how can I serve you?"

[RdMarquis]

Renette bites back a sigh. So much for avoiding notice. Forcing a polite smile on her face, she asks the employee, "Would it be possible to get coffee in one of those gallon containers? With some cups?" She was fairly sure of what the worker was expecting, and she decided not to disappoint them. Still feeling the eyes of the customers on her, Renette slides over money for her order, plus a generous tip. "Thank you very much." The member of her honor guard (the most polite way she could describe the man) wasn't to know, but she was secretly a little glad to have his company, given the circumstances.

[Valmark]

"Sure, Milady" the clerk says, preparing Renette's order. Once done, he gives it to her in a box to transport it, taking the money. "Thank you" he says, eyes flaring up at the tip.

[RdMarquis]

"Miss Lovelace will be fine." She manages not to sound too offended by the response. "Better yet, dispense with the formalities entirely." Renette picks up the box and nods at the clerk as she leaves. "Good day to you." She pours coffee for herself and her companion.

As she returns to the cargo bay, Renette runs into two of the mercenaries hired for the mission. "Care for a drink?" She indicates the container. "I should have enough for at least the primary crew members."

[YuweaCurtis]

"That may be true, but I have to be responsible here. Broadcast telepathy is still something you shouldn't be doing." Kyle says.

"Do you really think they wouldn't have a plan? The guards would merely stay a certain distance away from the 'mining equipment', aka you, so they wouldn't necessarily see you. My personal soldier will stay closer to you."

[NineOfSpades]

"alright, fine, no more unotherized thought-casting" Kiyah said, raising her arms over her head to signal defeat.

Her mood noticeably dropped upon hearing the news that she wasn't supposed to interact or even be seen by the mercenaries. It was pretty rare that anyone new got introduced to her social circle, and she'd kind of been looking forward to seeing these new-guys face to face. She didn't complain about it though, knowing there was unlikely to be much she could do to press the issue.




Not much else to post. Think I'm about ready to make planet-fall

[YuweaCurtis]

Satisfied she was calm, at least for the time being, he relaxes his composure and nods. "I'll be back later, I've got to go brief the men and mercenaries.... And excess any 'damages' caused by your little stunt. We should be taking off in a few minutes. Just try behave for both our sakes." He makes his way out of the container. He spends the next few minutes gathering the soldiers and mercenaries with the intentions of running through the mission...the public version anyways.

Besides telling everyone a basic run through of a mission to protect a valuable drill, I'm done and ready for liftoff. Granted someone may want to talk to me before then

[DoctorFaust]

At Renette's offering, Evie turns and hopefully asks, "Is there anything hard is the coffee?"

[RdMarquis]

It takes a moment for Renette to understand what Evie is asking. She doesn't drink. "Sorry. But I have sugar and cream, if you want."

[Valmark]

Finally comes the moment of departure. While some still question the readiness of the ship or at least the qualifications of the guy dedicated to the announcements from the PA system (who says that it worked by itself and that the ship is alive, clearly the words of a madman) everyone is happy to finally start the voyage.

It takes almost a week of continuos travel (you're surprised by how far it is) to reach MD-9, and the voyage is absolutely calm, making you wonder if you are really needed or just for show. Thought... you don't know what might happen next.
Once the ship reaches the planet it lands in a somewhat organized landing platform, near the scientific encapment. You are all shocked by the enviroment. Aside from the same gravity of the Earth nothing else is akin. The air's toxic so you all have body suits which oxygen reserves and it is fully made of rock. There is literally nothing else, aside from the encampment and the entrance of the mines. That explains why there is so much food in the ship hold: it all has to be brought on the planet.
You really wonder what's so interesting about the mines, which are sealed of for all of you aside from captain Kyle.

Your mechas are unloaded, apparently there have been attacks by space pirates in mechas who were barely repelled by automatic turrets and the arcane mecha of a magical pilot, so you arw to enforce the defenses since said turrets are out of use and the arcane mecha still needs repairing. In the meanwhile Kyle has to handle the transport of the wheeled cargo inside the mines.

in the campsite there are no shops, homever there is some kind of bar where you can drink and there are some kind of arena fights for whoever wants to blow off some tension, allowed by the officials since it's really tiring in those conditions.

In case you're wondering, right now you're the only defenses this place has from outside attacks. You and two npcs.

The plan is to get the wheeled cargo inside, where Kiyah will be let out and instructed on what to do.

[RdMarquis]

"Looks like we got here just in time..." Renette is glum. Perhaps she should have expected more fighting, but the situation at MD-9 worries her. The thought of living under siege in a hostile environment makes her shudder. Renette leaves off running diagnostics on her mecha. "Would you please finish this up for me?" She asks the AI. Closing the cockpit behind her, Renette goes to look for someone in charge. She had a few questions about the encampment.

[DoctorFaust]

Evie buckles down one final strap and then starts running through her personal readiness checklist. "All reactor nodes are in the green," she comms to their commander. "Environmental seals are holding steady, and targeting seems to be starting itself up just fine. Leviathan and I are ready to launch on your command. You want us to stay in readiness, or just hang around the camp until the pirates show up?"

[Valmark]

After a few questions Renette gets information regarding two people who are in charge: the arcanist Ezechiele, who works the only mecha on site, and doctor Heintz, who is the one effectively in charge.

[RdMarquis]

Renette decides to speak to the arcanist. After a quick introduction, she asks about the current situation. "Are we expecting another pirate attack soon?"

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah paced back and forth inside the cargo container, restless and eager to finally, finally, get out of the stupid box and into the fresh air. Well, the fresh air of a dead world coated in nothing but rock. Fresh is really a relative term in this instance. Her drones picked up on her eagerness, their mandables twitching and small flecks of slime oozing from their jaws. The container occationally jostled ever so slightly when one of the colossal beasts shifted its weight slightly.

[Valmark]

Ezechiele looks at Renette, flinching at each movement. He's bandaged in most of his body, so you can barely make out his feature, but you'd guess his quite muscled for a supposedly normal wizard.
"I hope never miss. But they didn't seem like leaving us be at all. Considering that they think that our defenses are depleted they'll probably strike soon, supposing there are more pirates out there. We killed a few, but at every encounter there were always more"

[RdMarquis]

"Woah. Easy, there." Renette holds up a hand to stop him from moving around. But she doesn't dare touch the man, not with his injuries. "Don't push yourself like that." She stares guiltily at Ezechiele. The records for this mission listed her as a medic, but in truth, actual healing magic was still beyond her. The best she could manage was a spell to bolster a person's vitality. "I'm here with a team of mercenaries who will help defend this base."

"Also, if you're feeling up to it, I'd like to ask you a few questions about these pirates. Are they all piloting mecha? Are their forces only equipped with conventional weaponry, or do they have magic users, as well?" She will continue her "interview" unless Ezechiele asks her to stop. "I mean no offense, but are these people unwilling to negotiate?"

[Valmark]

"You're all a bless, really. As for the pirates..." he coughs heavily, breaking the dialogue for a few seconds.
"Yeah, they use mecha. As for magic... No one of them wielded it, thought I'm not sure if it's because they don't have a magic user or else... And, as far as negotiating goes, coming in guns blazing makes diplomacy short-lived..."

[Valmark]

While everyone is exploring the encampment as they prefer, the cargo gets moved inside the mine, where it is opened.

Inside, they finally free Kyiah. What she sees are the enormous insides of a mine, glittering with blue venatures of a strange material, which glows faintly. But the most interesting part is a wall which consists of only that material, this glowing blue wall which... is calling Kyiah? It looks like whispers, but they are somewhat strange... threatening...

After a while, alarms start blazing. Apparently, five enemies have been relevated at distance, and are arriving rapidly.
You've got only a little time to prepare, time to get in your mecha and maybe prepare a little.
The captain breaths hardly, trying to stand up. But Renette clearly sees that if he fights... it would he his last

[NineOfSpades]

First out of the container were Kiyah's drones, which moved as extensions of her will. She didn't need to actively usurp their minds, their innate instincts were easy enough to direct. The Grund spread out first, getting a defensive parimeter in place, while the Ameise went airborn and scouted briefly. Kiyah herself rode out on the back of the Schütze.

Now, she had been all set to get right to work, but the mysterious stone and the light introduced a pang of uncertainty. Which was a rare thing indeed, since she was being offered a free pass to consume, and those didn't come very often.

Not being a geologist, and not really knowing what else to do, Kiyah tried reaching her throughts out to the whispers that she felt radiating from the alien metals. It was more a shot in the dark than anything.

[Valmark]

The few scientist that are there gasp when they see Kiyah's drones, trying to keep as much distance as possible beetween them and the drones.
When Kiyah reaches for the blue wall "mind"... flashes of white invade her mind, as pain scours throughout her body and millions of voices start shouting all together...
Make a fortitude check, DC 10 to be able to withstand the pain and understand what are you hearing

[Valmark]

Kiyah receives too much pain, and the voices remain too much indistinct for her to hear. Still, an image appears before she lets go of the telepathy: an enormous alien, bigger then the drones. He looks at her for a second, then everything disappears

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah reeled back from the mental wammie she was subject to, the recoil vibrating along mental tethers to her drones, which screeched and flailed briefly before she reasserted her dominance and brought them back into the fold.

So yeah...that happened. She lost a battle of wits with a rock. Not a great way to start the day.

"Um...hey, just throwing this out there..." She said, addressing the technicians and handlers that were overseeing the excevation. "This stuff is putting out some majorly bad juju...weird pitch, but maybe we shouldn't go messing with it?"

[Valmark]

The scientist, you noticed, are all nervous. Even too much, since they all knew about you...
One of them, a man around his sixties with a rather stern look, talks to you.
"Don't be silly, we examined this wall throughly. The only thing that there is is a powerful source of energy right after this seemingly impenetrable wall. You are here only to open it..."

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah bit her lip. She didn't like this, and really thought someone else should step in to at least investigate when in the heck had just happened. Getting the all clear from a (scrumptious, well aged) gentleman hadn't alleviated her fears one bit. If they'd really figured out what was going on, you'd think there would be, like, a warning sign or something? Caution: Rocks may attack your mind. She wanted to speak up, to voice some concerns, to get somebody to reconsider. But going against the instructions she'd been given wasn't exactly in Kiyah's wheelhouse. "I got a bad feeling about this" She muttered to nobody in particular, and sent in one of her Grund to try and start eating through the rock wall, keeping her distance.

[Valmark]

The Grund goes in front of the wall, and starts eating through it like it was nothing. The scientists look marveled... and can't seem to hold in the trepidation to see what's past it.
Homewever, you start to feel some... rather negative feedback from the Grund. Apparently, he's not liking it- it tastes bad, even for a wall.

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah noted the discomfort that her drone was experiencing, but ignored it and had the mammoth insectoid continue on it's mission. She wasn't surprised by the rocky material being difficult to digest, and had already come to a decision that she was probably going to have to scrub the Grund later. A waste of Biomass, sure, but better than potentially exposing herself and her other drones to whatever bad mojo was going on here.

[Valmark]

After a while, the drone communicates you that he believes to be almost to the other side. Homewever the link... is kind of strange. It speaks telepatically to you, alright, but it's almost as if you felt someone else, rather then your drone. The voice... seems far more similar to the one that you heard when you called to the rock.

[Valmark]

And then, the drone got through.
The first thing was a blinding flash of violet light. Then, the whole wall broke down, as a... well, you believe it's a mecha. In fact, it strongly resembles the few Super Robots Kiyah has seen, this is fully violet and emits light. And is much bigger then her drones. It barely fits in the cavern, actually.
He (it?) immediately cuts a drone down with what looks like a giant halberd, as scientists screams fill the cavern. Whatever it is... it didn't come to negotiate. Perhaps he was imprisoned there... in any case, this was NOT a good place to be.
Kiyah ran away on her drone, to discover that outside... it wasn't going good. The pirates were destroying everything. She stopped to take in her surroundings and understand what was happening when the violet blade of the halberd cut her drone in two halves, barely missing her.
Falling violently to the ground, she starts to lose counsciousness, barely registering a girl running to her...


-----Ch.1-EX The fissure temple-----

The explorators reached MD-1, where supposedly the mining mission failed, when all contacts ceased.
Going on the surface, sensors show that the camp... is kind of destroyed.
Thought... no bodies. Homewever, you do pick up some small heat signatures, registering two creatures in what looks like a small badly made house.
So yeah, the two heat signatures? It's you. Not being near enough to another planet, you were forced to remain there. The fun part? Renette didn't know anything about Kiyah... and the others are supposedly dead. The big violet mecha left for who knows where, but you didn't dare to enter the cavern, only the two of you.
Thought you did find some food and water, Renette has almost finished supplies. Luckily Kiyah doesn't eat necessarily edible food, uh?
The drones and the Super Mecha tell you of the explorators arrival.
Regarding the improvised house, after much trial and error you managed to male an atmosphere generator run, so you do have oxygen. To get anything farther then 10 feet from the house you need to have space suits/be inside a mecha
You are said explorator. I didn't really understand if deadguy has the battleship or not, if yes you're all aboard that. Of course, to go exploring you need to go down in a space suit or in a mech (preferably in a mech with the space suit on)
Deadguy, you don't need to remain aboard the ship, of course.
The entrance of the cavern has been blown wide open, even the battleship could enter it. And a sinister violet light comes out of it.

[Deadguy]

The massive cruiser's entry into the relatively thin atmosphere of the planet was smooth. The dagger-shaped profile passed over the mining facility at a few hundred mu to prevent ambush.

As it completed the scans, the AI appeared within the ready room, briefing the living members of the crew. "Two life signs detected. No weapon signatures active. Unknown light radiation detected from below surface." A visual of the small shelter and then the mine entrance flashed up on the monitor.

"Recommended action: deploy available mecha units for rescue and reconnaissance. Tassadar will maintain stationary atmospheric height and provide aerial fire support after delivery of units until request for extraction."

The AI, appearing as a young woman through hologram projection, scanned each of the living pilot's facial structures for any cues of discontent with the plan. The other AI was less... readable. Raya had little comfort in 'his' presence on this mission since she had been given very little data regarding his abilities or programming.

[LairdMaon]

"Captain, I fully agree with your recommended course of action. With your leave, I will depart for my larger body." and with that, the slightly creepy AI turns and walks away.

Upon arrival at his robot, he loads in with little fuss. His intelligence recalibrates to account for the sleek giant form to function as his own.

"I have achieved complete readiness. I begin when we all do."

[deuterio12]

Enar Moreira climbs inside her cockpit and jumps into her seat, feeling her heart beating faster as she dons the helmet of her space suit. The same movements Enar's done so many times before, except now it's the real deal. Focusing to breathe slower, she makes a last check up of all the machine's main systems.

Reactor at 100%. Weapons loaded. Ammo check. Dual sensor check. Radar working at 100%. Releasing Yksvoknym Particles. All systems green.

Taking a final deep breath, Enar grabs the main mecha controls and looks up towards the launch pad and the ship's opening door to the world outside.

Enar Moreira... Launching on the R-1 fighter form!

Activating the R-1's main engine, Enar takes flight from the AI battleship leaving behind a faint trail of sparkly Yksvoknym particles and procceeds to circling around the area while checking for anything interesting.


Spot 25, Listen 18 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22425662&postcount=91)

[Deadguy]

The anti-gravity stabilizing thrusters engaged as the Tassadar descended. The bay door opened, red flashing light signaling to hold the launch.

When the rear ramp was exactly 15 mu from the surface, the exact height to ensure the grounded mecha unit sustained no damage, the light for both the launch pad and drop lift turned green.

Once both were safety launched, the colossal battleship remained above the mecha at 20 mu. The mechas received scanner and targeting data from the massive arrays, allowing his circuits to respond to threats more efficiently.

"All units, Tassadar, comms check."

Leader: +1 attack / ac within 20 mu

[RdMarquis]

The last two weeks had not been easy for Renette. She had never known such danger in her life, let alone been ready to be stranded on a hostile planet. Exhaustion and malnutrition were beginning to take their toll. Then there were the memories of that last attack.

Renette was practicing a fencing drill to stave off boredom. And her own doubts. If she had been a better pilot and magic user, would the people at the camp still be alive? Or her guards? She felt her eyes burning. She hadn't even bothered to learn their names.

Replacing her sword in its scabbard, she stared outside the damaged shelter. How could she stop a war if she couldn't even help her allies?

[LairdMaon]

Cypress Six watched the others leave the hanger and studies their commentary for a moment.

"Emotion. I neglected emotion. I suppose it would be wise to repair that oversight."
"Loading Subroutine: Enthusiasm."
"Yeah! Let's get this show on the ROAD!"

With that, Cypress Six crouches down and leaps out into space, igniting his thrusters as soon as he clears the bay.


Listen [roll0]
Search [roll1]
Spot [roll2]

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah didn't know she was drooling.

She'd been lost in thought for about 5 minutes now, pondering different flavors of food, and their pairings. Renette was a frequent item on the entree list. Watching the pilot practice her drills only reminded Kiyah of the muscles undernether, those long-string organic protean chains that she'd been going without for what felt like at least 5 millions years. The planets rock and soil was more than enough to keep her going, and after she'd replaced her destroyed drones, there wasn't any real need to consume more than a paltry few pounds a day to keep her biological processes going, but that hardly could stop her impulses.

Truth be told, it was getting harder to keep those temptations in check. This was the first time in...well...EVER that she'd been left unsupervised and pretty much free to do as she pleased. Without the mech, Renette would hardly prove much of a match and could be easily eaten. About the only thing (Well, other than her moral hangups about eating people...she still had a soft spot for these humanoids), was that the girl would make for a light snack at BEST, and then Kiyah would be right back where she started...stranded and hungry.

Of course...she could start making more drones...That was another thought that kept rising its head up. There was nothing else alive on the planet that they knew off, so gobbling up a few megatons of rock wouldn't hurt anyone, and maybe with the extra biomass they could start planning an escape in earnest.

It'd be easy...

And that was about when the alerts went up that there were ships incoming.

[LairdMaon]

With Subroutine: Enthusiasm working it's magic in Cypress Six, the AI pushes his larger body a bit faster. He passes the others with a gusto not commonly seen from hired help.

He fires his retros only enough to soften his landing on the surface of the planetoid. Even then, he lands in a combat crouch.

His ever-present Subroutine: Curiosity influences him to call out, "Hello, survivors! We are the cavalry! Make yourselves known!"

[RdMarquis]

Renette gives a shuddering sigh of relief. Not a moment too soon. She hurriedly pulls on a space suit and grabs a signal flare. "Kiyah?" Talking to the Einst still felt a bit strange to her, even with their current situation. Renette's knowledge of the Queens was limited to their fearsome reputation, and frankly, she wasn't sure how to go about befriending someone who might want to devour her (she suspected Kiyah had considered the idea, but bring that up would have been quite awkward as well). Besides, they were never supposed to have met in the first place. "Let's be rid of this awful place."

She opens the door to the building and lights the flare, waving it at the distant form of Cypress Six. "Over here!" Renette hopes they are using the same comm frequency.

[Deadguy]

The ship continued to hover over Cypher as he made his way forward, casting a massive shadow on the rocky terrain. From inside, one of the scanners lit up and the ship's AI diverted processor power to analyze.

"Comm transmission received from surface. Patching all units to frequency..."

There was a brief scrambling sound over the comm sets before the mech pilots could hear the call from Renette.

Leader: +1 attack / ac within 20 mu

[LairdMaon]

Cypress Six turns to look at the human flailing a flare around.
He broadcasts on all friendly channels,
"Cypress Six reporting target lock on an unidentified human female wielding a lit ignition device. Target corresponds with one life sign. No visual contact on second life sign."

"Unidentified human female, I am directing power to offensive systems. It is in your interest to identify yourself as either friend or foe. And quickly." Indeed, the built in class on each of the super robot's hands extend to readiness.

[RdMarquis]

Seriously? Renette drops the flare on the ground and raises her hands. At least she had their attention. "Renette Lovelace, mech pilot of the Lelitian Council." She briefly considered identifying herself as the daughter of a Lord Marshall before putting aside the idea with a grimace. It even sounded disgustingly spoiled in her head. Though if their potential rescuers were going to be this hostile, she might need the namedrop to get Kiyah a ride home.

[LairdMaon]

"Update. Human female is now designated as Renette Lovelace. Powering down weapons systems." The claws retract.

"Loading Subroutine: Manners"

With a very large bow of the sort you might find in a classical theatre, Cypress Six says,"So sorry for that. I had to be sure!"

[deuterio12]

Enar transforms her mecha into humanoid form and gracefully lands right next to Cypress Six, like she did so many times during simulations. The attempt to make her R-1 copy the classical bow from the AI isn't nearly as graceful as she wasn't even sure which buttons to press but better to follow other's motions when you didn't know what to do. Enar does manage to avoid letting her mecha completely tip over and crash face first into the ground.

Hmmm, hi! Enar Moreira, ensing lieutenant of the 41th division of the 3rd army from the Council of Lelitian!

The newearl hoped she had got her undercover identity fine. Then her curiosity got the better of her.

Any other survivors? Need medical attention? What happened here? Where are your mechs? Wanna be my friends?

[RdMarquis]

Renette blinks. Mostly out of habit, she returns the bow. "I'm sure I'll need to give you a full report later, but-" The words stick in her throat as her guilt returns. "...the campsite was attacked by pirates. Aside from myself, there was only one other survivor." Renette pauses again, for a different reason. "I...should warn you..."

She takes a deep breath and continues. There was no point in dancing around the issue of her "friend". "My companion happens to be an Einst Queen named Kiyah. I assume she was brought on the mission to help with excavation. Let me reassure you that she does not represent a danger to any of us. After the attack, she helped me to survive on this planet. That said...it's probably in the best interest of all of us for you to feed her."

Renette calls inside the shelter. "Kiyah?"

[NineOfSpades]

Kiyah kept her head down and stayed out of the way while initial introductions were made. First impressions were important, and it was hard to put a positive spin on 'Hi, here are some building sized bug-monsters that appeared unexpectedly from inside a cave in the middle of a totally obliterated scientific outpost'. Didn't take to many brain cells to figure that was only likely to provoke the 'blast 'em from orbit' response, rather than the 'here are some space blankets and hot chocolate, lets get you all off this planet' response. Kiyah kept her telepathic bridge open so she could evesedrop, but otherwise let Renette establish some banter beforehand.

When the cue was given, Kiyah waited a moment before emerging from behind the rubble/stone cover, calling out "Yeah, just a heads-up, I reeeeeaaaaally don't want to get shot at today. Been a rough couple of days here and I just can't even....alright?" With that, she slowly moved out into the line-of sight with the exploration crew and their mechs, tring her best to keep her more...human-y bits visible first.

Taking in the group, much as she figured they were doing to her, Kiyah sized them up. All and all, probably about 1.5 million calories, though most of it looked to be inorganic. Normally that wouldn't get her very far, but at this point, anything was better than the silicate oxides that she'd been nibbling on. Of course eating the help wasn't going to do much, so she just smiled and flashed a peace-sign, trying really hard to look non-threatening and even harder to not look like a target. Her drones were nearby, but she kept them out of sight, though hopefully close enough to step in if she needed saving. Even if, intellectually, she suspected that her drones wouldn't have a ghost of a chance of outracing a bullet or laser burst. So really, they were more of a security blanket right now.

You know...just with more teeth.

[Deadguy]

The Tassadar continued to monitor for any long range threats. Upon hearing the communication about an Einst, Raya began to send communications back to the Lilitian military.

"Command. Tassadar. Positive contact with survivors. Einst biologic confirmed. Advise.

As she sent the encoded transmission into subspace, she continued to monitor the interaction for hostility from the surviving Einst organism.

Leader: +1 attack / ac within 20 mu

[Valmark]

After a while, a response comes.
"Here command. Good job, new orders. Secure the Einst queen and inspect the mine. You may want to avoid upsetting the queen. No more then four bugs including her ride allowed.
From now on, no words about an Einst queen unless we first communicate it, use the term "package""
After a while, another communication arrives.
"Einst queens are so coooo" but the communication seems cut off.
Then "Sorry for inconvienence, carry on"

[Deadguy]

"Tassadar. Copy all. Out."

The ship's anti-grav thrusters shifted slightly, taking it to a clear area as it descended. The young female voice chimes into the allied mech's comms, including Renette's.

"Survivors have been vetted and cleared by HQ. New mission objective, secure survivors and inspect mine."

The cargo bay doors hissed as the hydraulics actuators broke the pressure seal. A few small repair and probe droids scurried down the ramp, taking samples of the soil and air.

"Einst designated Kiyah, please advise to the number of drones under your control currently." The girl's voice echoed as a hologram of her was projected from the droids that had come closer to inspect the survivors.

Leader: +1 attack / ac within 20 mu

[LairdMaon]

"Inspect mine. I suppose it's time to take a look."

Cypress Six walks toward the mine entrance and peeks his head in.

[Valmark]

You peek into the cavern, where you see that... there is nothing. Well, there is nothing related to humans. No bodies, no machines, just a normal cavern... if it wasn't for the enormous entrance from where violet light comes. From the signs on the ground it looks busted out, and you can see... something like a built structure behind? You'd say the entrance of some kind of temple, but being this probably alien architecture, you can't be sure without entering it. Thought you're pretty sure it's something inside that projects the light...

[RdMarquis]

"Wait!" Renette calls after Cypress Six. On the other side of the shelter, her mech stirs to life, automatically beginning its startup sequence. As if in response to Renette's concern and shock, the machine hurries to its pilot's side. "I'm coming with you." A safety cord drops from the cockpit to allow her to climb in. "I remember people talking about a mysterious mech during the attack two weeks ago. It didn't seem to belong to the pirates, but it was described as extremely dangerous. And it was seen near the mine."

The "Gorgon Custom", as Renette called it, strode after Six's machine. "If you plan on investigating the mine, please allow me to assist you."

[LairdMaon]

"I welcome your company, designate Renette. You say this unknown mecha is dangerous, I will prepare accordingly."

Loading Subroutine: Combat Readiness

The paired claws extend once more as Cypress Six crouches slightly and creeps forward.

[deuterio12]

Enar's eyes were still spinning in confusion at the previous orders. Working with an einst queen? But when they appeared in the movies and simulations, einst queens were always baddies! Well that went to show you needed to experience the real world to learn stuff properly.

Then the newearl noticed people moving along without her and runs her mecha towards the cave entrance.
Heeeyyy waaaiiit for me too!

Managing to compose herself a little, Enar moves ahead of the team.

I've got a radiação radar equipped on my R-1ette, so if nobody minds I'll take point.

She proceeds to carefully move her machine, minimizing the noise and seeking to blend in with the shadows.

Hide 28, Move Silently 14, Spot 11, Listen 8. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22459403&postcount=95)
Also Enar's radar acessory grants Blindsense 120 mu.

[Valmark]

Enar, Renette and Cypress enter the temple, bathing in the violet light.
The insides of the temple present a long corridor, pretty larger then your mechas, with 3 statues alongside the corridors of... you'd think mechas? Surely the aspect is that one, thought the designs are different from anything you have ever saw.
At the end of the corridor there are stair and a platform where you see the source of the violet light, thought you can't discern it well.


Entering the temple, you feel strange... well, as strange as you can feel.
As if someone was tickling your mecha, trying to force you to open the cockpit... not that you need to.
And the source of light... to look in that direction fills you with Subroutine: Dread...

[NineOfSpades]

"Sorry, what, someone say something?" Kiyah asked, her head jerking up suddenly. She'd been paying attention, but then she'd made the mistake of breathing in and got a whiff of one of the pilots, and the protien compounds made her feel like she was going to float right off the ground like a cartoon character. Whatever conversations were taking place receaded into the distance and became just a bleating, muffled static.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been out of it, only that from her own perspective, she'd blinked and then everyone was gone. A mental update from one of her Grund's was all it took to relocate them. And hey, look at that, they'd only been on the planet for a few minutes, and had already managed to find the access point to the super-dangerous temple from which the giant mech that caused all these problems came.

Gotta leave it to these humans, they waste no time whatsoever in endangering themselves. Kiyah need to at least try and divert this course, because she really wanted to get off this rock, and having a repeat of 'mysterious robot awakens: Kills everyone' was just not in the cards.

Scooting along as fast as her stuby legs could carry her bulk, Kiyah tried to catch up. Her drones lumbered to action at her call, falling in to form ranks. No way she was getting anywhere near that place without a full guard. "Hey...HEY! WAIT UP!" She called out, already feeling a little out of breath. "Wait, what am I doing..." Kiyah said, smacking herself in the forehead as the realization hit her. Stopping her pursuit, her antenna perked up and started transmitting to all the minds she could reach out "Ok, hi, Kiyah here. Sorry if I'm rushing, but this is kinda (Mega) important. Oh, also sorry for entering your minds without permission (very rude, I know). I'll try not to muck about (to much) while I'm in here. Urg, I'm getting off track (more than usual even)...Listen, I know we all just met (I gotta work on first impressions), and yeah cards on the table, I'm kinda at wits end with hunger (OM NOM NOM), so this is proooobably coming across a little more frank than I usually am (By frank I mean with subconscious commentary), but hear me out: Lets just turn around right now and (please) leave. Seriously, I know this ruins must look super-interesting (Scary, they look scary), and trust me when I say I get the desire to go out and explore new places (You have no idea). But hey, when we (Not that it was much of a team effort, I did all the heavy lifting) opened up this place, it (the scary giant robot) came out and killed (****ed up) everyone in camp. So, just spitballing here, maybe it'd be better to pull back and let like...archegoloists or someone deal with it (You idiots are going to get yourselves/my drones/me killed). Your ship looks really nice, why don't we all just go back there and head somewhere else (I'm asking nicely, but that can change REAL quick)"

[deuterio12]

Enar was fully focused on scanning up close all those mysterious statues, even going through the trouble of re-aligning some of her genes to enhance her reasoning abilities, and thus takes some moments to notice the voice inside her head.

B-But I'm an archeologist. Well, kinda, had a bunch of training for it. My first time actually exporing some ruins (or any real place for the matter). Anyway , and my R-1ette can tactically redeploy to safety pretty fast if something nasty happens, and no way I'm leaving whitout checking for goodies first. This kind of place ALWAYS has ancient yet useful stuff lying around.
...
Wait, are you talking directly to my mind? That's so coooll, wow are you doing it?


Knowledge results:
Arcana
(1d20+8)[16]
Architecture and Engineering
(1d20+8)[12]
Geography
(1d20+8)[24]
History
(1d20+8)[20]
Local
(1d20+8)[24]
Nature
(1d20+8)[21]
Nobility and Royalty
(1d20+8)[19]
Religion
(1d20+8)[22]
The planes
(1d20+5)[9] (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22475719&postcount=106)

[LairdMaon]

This feeling. Being compelled by an outside force.

Cypress Six knows it well. It reminds him of the tests they out him through to see if he was truly intelligent. "NO! I will NOT be compelled!
Watch your tech! The unit ahead is attempting to make me open my cockpit! Watch your tech for unexplained actions! As for you," his attention focuses on the unseen alien unit ahead, "I will dismantle you. Piece by piece. Joint by joint. I will scatter your constituent parts to the stellar winds."

Cypress Six stalks forward, claws at the ready.

[RdMarquis]

Easy, Kiyah. Renette's mech follows closely behind the other two. It may be important to understand the nature of this machine and its purpose here. What we don't know can still hurt us, after all. Besides, the crew from the Tassadar were sent to investigate the mine in addition to rescuing us.

She glances at the statues with concern. Mostly about anything else they might discover in this cave, but she would be lying if the thought of them coming to life and attacking never crossed her mind.There's no need for you to join us if you don't want to. I'm sure you'll be allowed to stay on board the ship while we explore this cave.

Renette hurriedly switches her attention to stopping Cypress Six. "Wait!" As she pulls back on its controls, her mech puts on a burst of speed to catch up with her teammate. She positions herself in front of Cypress. "We can't afford to provoke this machine. Remember that it is far more dangerous than your average mecha. Let's approach carefully and observe it if we can."

[Valmark]

Either advancing abruptly or cautiously, you arrive at the source. It's not a mecha, but rather a violet stone the size of your cores... actually, given the readings on the energy emanated, it might be a ridicoulously powerful core. It can be carried in one hand.

You are pretty sure this could be used. It greatly resembles a Super Robot core, and you're sure it could be used to build an Arcane Robot or a Super Robot with supernatural characteristics. It emits faint sounds which have powerful reverberations... perhaps building a sonic weapon? Or empowering sound based spells. Can't discover other things without a laboratory and tecnologies

You know you don't want to touch that thing. Whatever it is, it's almost making it hard to "think" for you, for as much as it is possible given that you're an AI. Which is probably why it's giving you this much problems.

[deuterio12]

See? Nothing to be afraid off. Just a mecha core filled with SN energy. Great ultrasonic frequency if I had to make a guess. We need to take it to a lab to be sure what exactly it is though.

With childlike curiosity, Enar delicately grabs the shiny core and carefully takes it outside to be stored safely on the battleship.

[RdMarquis]

"A moment, please. I'd like to examine that core a little more closely." Renette taps a few buttons on the dashboard, synchronizing her mech's sensors with her arcane perception as she tapped into the latter. A moment later, she tells Enar, "You're correct about the sonic energy. It shouldn't be dangerous to anyone, but I recommend carefully containing the thing, just to be safe."

[Deadguy]

The cruiser landed once again once the expedition had relayed that they were safe and exiting the ruins.

The loading bay doors glided open with a hiss and the ramp lowered with a ratcheting lock, allowing the mechas to walk into the hanger bay. The hovering video drone circled around the returning team for signs of damage, feeding the information to the AI. Upon seeing no structural damage, the young woman's voice chimed into the comms channel. "No mechanical or biological damage recognized. Unidentified energy source will be quarantined in Mechanical Bay 2 until further orders from Command received."

Once all the mechs were stowed, the Tasadar engaged it's repulsor drives and gained altitude. It remained in atmosphere while uplinking to transmit a message to the Lilitian military. "Command. Tassadar. Mission objectives complete. Package secured. No threat detected during inspection. Unidentified energy source secured. Standing by for orders."

[Valmark]

"Good job. It's time to-" then the communication goes static. Before you get a chance to understand, you receive the signal of 4 heat signatures of mecha-scaled dimensions, coming from... the planet?

When they get into view, you can't believe your eyes- strange, giant monsters shaped like strange snakes are flying towards you. Their "skin" is covered in violet crystals which give off a strange light... much like the core that you brought aboard.

Or the giant mecha. Thought, it wasn't covered in violet crystals, but rather itself was the source of violet light

The four "snakes" are not equal between themselves, one of them being rather larger and slower then the others- it is bigger then your mechas, while the three little ones are smaller then a standard mecha. It's these three ones that reach you before you can do anything, trying to bite the ship hull and tear away walls. You notice they don't have any trouble swimming in what's basically zero-g, even thought you are within the atmosphere limit still.



[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]



They barely scratch the battleship walls, effectively desperatingly trying to graze- which they can't do. It really does look like a mindless attack.

Deploying is a free action, so no need to spend actions and everyone can get out- the three Small snakes are in melee with the battleship, while the Large one is still moving- he's around 40 feet away right now.

As for turns, yes, all of you. Post freely, of course is two PCs attack the same and it would die from one hit, I'll assign the action to another enemy- or, if none applicable, he'll get to switch action. Thought it shouldn't happen.

Of course, when I see a post I'll write what happens, this is just to soeed up combat.

[deuterio12]

Enar engaging the enemy in the R1-ette!

Calling upon her training of years of video games, the newearl has her mecha exit the ship while drawing a pair of giant revolvers from concealed leg compartments and shooting a solid round from each at one of the alien-looking enemies, firing her head gatling guns at the same time.



(original rolls on ooc)

Giant Revolver attack 1
(1d20+7)[21]
Giant Revolver damage 1
(1d10+5)[12]

Giant Revolver attack 2
(1d20+7)[11]
Giant Revolver damage 2
(1d10+5)[8]


Gatling Guns attack
(1d20+7)[8]
Giant Revolver damage
(1d6+5)[11]

[Valmark]

A revolver's round burns itself in the snake body, making it shriek loudibly in pain. You notice, strangely, that while it appears to be made of meat it doesn't lose any kind of blood or other bodily fluids.

[Deadguy]

The AI sounded alarms within the ship as hostile units appeared.

She took quick account of the damage sustained from the surprise attack and calculated the risks before springing into action. Anti-air guns opened fire on the small enemies within melee, with a goal of keeping their attention on the sturdy ship.

Missile canisters slid open and released a salvo toward the larger threat that was still moving forward, exploding in concussive force to slow the enemy's progress.

Even during this chaos, the ship's computer was able to link with the allied mecha to provide them targeting information. It's thrusters fired and sent waves of heat scorching the barren soil as it propelled itself further from the threat.


Leadership (allies +1 attack / ac)
Swift Action - Anti-air Guns || Attack: [roll0] | Damage: [roll1]
Full Round - Covering Barrage: Missile Batteries (5 energy) - reflex dc 14 vs entangle regardless of hit/miss || Attack: [roll2] | Damage: [roll3]

Pinning - if successful, target speed 1/2 | Disarming - [roll4]

Hit and Run (5 energy) - Move 60 mu away from large ship

Readied Interrupt: Evade (+10 ac/reflex)

[RdMarquis]

Renette was nodding off when the attack began. She awoke with a surprised yelp, stumbling toward her mecha as she realized what was happening. A couple of crew members stared at her doubtfully, but she hurried past them. "Please allow me to sortie." She didn't want to see anyone else hurt protecting her.

"Renette Lovelace, Gorgon Custom, launching!"

Perhaps later, she would consider the implications (which were significant) of the creatures attacking them. But at the moment, she was focused on helping her newfound allies. A blade extends from the mecha's right arm. Renette maneuvers her machine behind one of the smaller snake creatures, aiming a slash at its body.

[Valmark]

The Gorgon slices the snake almost dead body, definitely putting it down.
In the meanwhile, the battleship distances itself from the fight, while covering it's escape and the allies fight with suppressive fire. Homewever, none of the snakes seem hurt in a relevant way

[roll0]
[roll1] vs DC 14


Also, can't seem to find pinning and disarming rules, someone helps?