Scene #5899: Mutagen Leak

Owner	Pose
Septette Arcubielle	The Waterfall Woods are, under normal circumstances, the safest and most idyllic of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth's underground strata. That is to say, they are still incomprehensibly lethal to civilians, but can be safely patrolled by squads of armed and trained soldiers. Not so today. Elites who warp in to the provided coordinates will find themselves near a column of swirling purple light- doubtless what passes for a teleporter in Etria. Those who take the more scenic route down from the surface will descend through lush caves full of rivers and ferns, yet eerily devoid of animal life and suffused with unnatural directionless sunlight. Unless the Elites make an active effort to avoid it, all paths naturally lead to a makeshift forward operating camp full of stony-faced guardsmen, walled off from the rest of the forest by rocks and by trees so thick their trunks fuse together. The two Relevant Questgivers here are immediately visible, both because they're not in the standard drab-green uniform and because they have weird hair colors. One is an imposing blue-haired warrior in navy-and-white light bamboo armor; the other is a nervous redheaded mage wearing a dark and tattered cloak, literally standing in her partner's shadow. The warrior steps forward, dropping her arm from her abdomen to reveal a half-bandaged puncture wound that pierced clean through her armor Despite its ongoing bleeding, her demeanor remains even and stern. "Evening. Ren speaking, she's Tlachtga." She inclines her head slightly towards the taciturn mage. "Some of you I know. Some new. But we'll skip formalities."
Septette Arcubielle	"Six hours ago patrols reported monsters in Waterfall Woods with strange growths, new limbs. Four hours ago, monster infighting between the altered and standard monsters began. Two hours ago strange macro-level organization and behavior appeared on both sides, including aberrant intra-species cooperation. In the last hour unaffected monsters have set up a circular 'containment zone' around the area. Several mutants have broken the blockade already, and been put down by guards." She gestures to one of the guards, who nods and pulls a tarp off of a nearby boulder. At least, it looked like a boulder at first- bared to examination, it's more of an enormous boar whose hide happens to resemble mossy stone. Mercifully, the monster is dead- but out-of-place black arthropod-like limbs all over its body still shiver and twitch, like the dying convulsions of a spider. "As you can see, the- oh, FUCK!" Ren's explanation is abruptly cut short as the boar's body twitches, then ruptures, spewing skittering black tangles of limbs everywhere! The grotesque insect-like creatures, each half the size of a man, scatter about in blind search of some escape from the encampment. She draws her sword, followed by some of the quicker-thinking guardsmen, and lays into the closest one to draw a gout of sticky green blood. "Don't let them escape!"
Staren	A little quadrotor drone flies out of the teleporter, then turns around and flies back in. A moment later, Staren emerges, and smiles upon recognizing Ren. "Oh hey, it's you again!" He glances at the wound and with a hint of concern adds, "Offer's still on the table, you know." He listens to the description of the problem. After she describes the blockade, he rubs his helmet. "What the hell? So the wildlife's not bad enough here, now it's some kinda hive mind?" After the boar is revealed, he walks up to it curiously... he was going to poke it and see if it really was stone, but then it attacks! Wait, no... bursts into spiders! He fires at a couple of them with the beam cannons mounted on his right arm.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian's got no reason to avoid where the path's naturally leading, and there's no reason to make his transit any more difficult. So whatever paths are open, he's going to take them. Quickly, mind -- this sounded as though it was rather urgent, and there really isn't time for him to be leisurely strolling down the path, taking in the unusual sights. Perhaps on the way back, if he doesn't have to be carried out. As he meets up with the 'questgivers', he offers a polite bow. As for no pleasantries? "I can understand that, it seems--" He trails off as he notices the still-bleeding wound. "Maker's breath!" he exclaims. "Surely you have better sense than to walk about with your guts prevented from hanging out only by bandages?" Yeah he's worried, and he tends to get snippy when he gets worried. Of course, there WOULD be something stopping him from healing that wound. In this case, it's something a little more serious than just 'another situation'. In this case it happens to be horrible bugs everywhere. "Oh for..." Dorian begins, but then realizes it's probably more productive to start purging horrible mutated creatures! Fortunately fire is usually a good way to deal with insectoid critters. USUALLY. However, instead of just starting to indescriminately throw fire around, Dorian thinks controlling their escape might be better initially. So with a Word, he spreads his arms to the sides, and then raises his hands upwards. He's trying to create walls of fire to try and corral the critters. Hopefully this will make it easier to take care of them.
Note	Note's always ready for a fight! Monsters means NO HOLDS BARRED, so she manages to figure out the coordinates in a hurry and just BARRELS out of the teleporter, swooping up a few dozen feet to get a look at the area... and then drifts down to the group as it assembles near the guards! Her tail's twitching with rambunctious energy and she's all but shivering herself with anticipation! But at the news of what's been going on... And seeing the wound... Yeah, that puts a bit of a damper on the enthusiasm. The youth frowns as a bit of worry for the locals builds, glances over at the 'boulder' and--- "HYEEEEEEK!!!" BUGS. GIANT BUGS! Note's reaction is a complete reflex, and she does NOT need to be asked. BOTH hands are flung in their general direction and BZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!! A big Ki beam flies at the densest concentration. "Okay, these monsters are NOT cool! Gotta get rid of THESE things!"
Orchid	Among those arriving by warping in is Orchid, who took the trip through the swirling purple light. It's the sort of thing that makes a safe arrival more reliable. As she walks, little robot spiders jump off her armor, setting up a relay chain for her communications; reception is really poor in these caves without some boost. They're also starting to map out the area around her. When she gets to the base camp, Orchid is content to listen, to get an idea of what is going on. Monsters working with each other when shey shouldn't. Monsters growing extra limbs... Then the corpse explodes. "Oh no," she mutters to herself, but she's got enough spiders in the area to try and weave some webs over the exits to this cave, hopefully enough to contain these skittering monsters. Yeah. No need to try and fight by herself yet...
Yuuki Konno	While Yuuki's never met the questgivers before, she does pay attention to them as she approaches. Unique uniforms, colored hair. She's played enough VRMMOs to recognize such things even if she's not entirely conscious of the trope. She greets Ren with a smile, then a serious little frown as she notices Ren's wound. Tlachtga gets a nod of the head. As they say though, skip formalities. "So uh... how do we know which enemies are mutants we're supposed to kill, and which are the UUUUWAAAGH!" she asks, her question interrupted by the sudden explosion of insect-spidery things. Yuuki doesn't get afraid of much, but she CAN get spooked. Fortunately she's also quick. Very quick. She draws her sword in a flash, that being a perfectly reasonable reaction to being startled, though it takes her a few moments to figure out just what exactly she should do. When Ren gives directions she nods, frowning again, and dives in to lash about with her blade. Yeah she COULD run some down, but there are ranged fighters here too. Best to stay between them and the foe, in pseudo-tank mode, so as to best help handle the entire mob.
Starbound Flotilla	The little plantgirl figure that pops up in this group is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. She's already got a large, futuristic, magnetic bow over her back, and a pair of daggers at her side, alongside the matter manipulator strapped to her hip. She likes that bamboo warrior already. "Hihiiii! Hello! Anyone tried to eat yet? Isss poisssoned maybe? Floran needsss to know, isss important." Is Biteblade seriously gonna try eating her kills here, or is it just /scientific interest/? She's already approaching the boar to try a chunk, when suddenly it explodes! "Augh! Isss sssoft, chewy arachnid center in big tough boar shell!" She calls out, drawing her bow and immediately opening fire, intent on blasting these damn things right through the midsection with a long, precision-fire magnetic bolt, skewering them in the middle as she leaps to a higher position in the underground area to get a better view and make sure NONE escape!
Septette Arcubielle	Dorian and Orchid's corraling measures prove to be a prescient precaution- several of the buglike mutants try to break for it, only to blindly run into the fires. Though some make it through to the other side, a combination of "still being on fire" and "getting caught in Orchid's webs" condemns them to a slow death regardless. With the runners solidly taken care of, Biteblade's free to concentrate on picking off those that stay and fight! The ones that do, don't fare much better. Between Note's energy blast, Staren's lasers, and the Floran's magnetically-accelerated arrows, it's less of a battle and more of a high-score contest. Ren slows down after her initial draw-cut once she sees the Elites have things under control, wincing as she compresses her wound with a free hand. Tlachtga, meanwhile, holds her hands a foot apart and conjures up an ominous ball of roiling dark energy- only to be disrupted by one of the spiders lunging at her while Ren's distracted! Fortunately, Yuuki's running defense and can cut it down before it gets to pounce on her. The hexer allows her building attack to dissipate with a quiet sigh (of disappointment?) when she sees the battle is essentially concluded. Despite their previously stony demeanors, the soldiers seem considerably cheered by "their" victory- one of them laughs and claps one of his fellows on the back, giving a few of the multiversals an approving look. The two veterans, however, seem a little more grounded. "Even if we were considering eating them, we wouldn't have much of a chance," Ren finally replies to Biteblade. "Watch." Just a few moments after the fighting's ended, a small horde of eyeless purple-and-white rats emerges from between the trees and sets upon the remains of the spiderlike creatures and the mangled boar. They skeletonize it within seconds with eerie coordination, carrying whatever they can't swallow back with them like a train of army ants. Only the bones and hide are left behind; not even the green bloodstains remain. Ren sits down on a tree stump to adjust her bandage and shakes her head slowly. "We don't know where they're going. Too risky for us to follow. Strangest thing is they used to have eyes... and preferred human meat to other monsters." Tlachtga tugs gently at Dorian's leather sleeve, having seemingly materialized just outside his field of vision. "If you've got a way to patch her up, she'll accept it." An accusatory glance at Ren highlights the implicit "or else". Orchid's scans reveal the nearby dead-ends and paths as well as hinting at the shape of the containment zone: there is a circular 'scorched earth' ring where vegetation has literally been burned away, with a high concentration of uninfected monsters on the outside and infected ones just inside it. The rats seem to be heading to a point on the outside of the ring, though whether they choose to follow the rats or head for the center of the containment zone, they'll need to find a way to get around (or through) several large patrolling deer-like creatures!
Septette Arcubielle	The deer themselves are magnificent slate-gray stags with tan 'manes', easily ten feet at the shoulder. Each of them has six eyes, with two more on each side of their ribcages. Their horns are hollow-tipped, like the pipes of an organ... most menacingly, though, they patrol set routes through thick mud, with few blind-spots between them. A few routes to evade them suggest themselves- swimming through one of the rivers rather than going on land, climbing through the trees above, or using more esoteric stealth techniques- but it shouldn't be too difficult to blast through the blockade with brute force, either. They're just deer, right? Right?
Staren	Staren stares as the rats do their thing. "Septette described them, but still, to SEE it..." After the rats are gone, Tlachtga says they don't know where the rats go. "Well if you'd SAID that a moment ago I would have put tracking devices on them!"
Septette Arcubielle	Ren stares at Staren for a moment, uncomfortably intense as ever. The hemorrhaging abdominal wound has done nothing to soften her permafrost demeanor. "You have tracking devices and guns that shoot light and flying drones. And you have forgotten how to follow tracks in muddy ground. I apologize for overestimating you."
Orchid	The good news is that once the fight is over, Orchid's webs are easy enough to take down. Also useful if the fact that Orchid's scouting spiders are small enough that they may evade notice, as they attempt to stealth their way past the mega deer. "I think where the spiders go is a secondary concern," Orchid says, using her bracers to project a holographic map of the area, an inset showing what the mega-deer look like. "Here's the 'containment area,'" she explains, conveying what she learned. No, her player won't repeat EVERYTHING from Septette's pose, you have to go read it for yourself. "There's an option or two for stealth I can see, or you could try the direct approach, but that could consume resources needed for the main threat."
Yuuki Konno	"Wait, you have monster corpse cleanup rats here?" Yuuki asks, startled and perhaps a bit concerned. It's kind of neat, in more than one sense of the word, but the scavenger critters being that fast and efficient is a little worrying. And it also suggests that there aren't good monster-food drops. Not that Yuuki'd want to actually eat a spider-insect-thing. Not really. But she's got food on the brain since running into someone who wastefully cooked a Ragout Rabbit over a common campfire. It's time to focus on more important things though. Like the monsters that are threatening the place. Yes, that does take precedence over food... sadly. "I can fly." Yuuki notes to those planning what next. "Even underground like this. But if we can't all fly or sneak or whatever, our best bet's probably to punch through on foot!" she adds enthusiastically.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian breathes a sigh of relief once the bugs are taken care of. And of course, he just has to ask, "Have all the mutated creatures had that happen to them upon death. The whole 'exploding into spiders' bit?" Suddenly ZERG RU-- I mean, RAT SWARM! Dorian's prepared to fight again, but... it's not them the rats seem to want. "...Strange," he muses. "Particularly if humans were their preferred cuisine before this and now -- gah!" Yes, Tlachtga startled him a bit. He was still in 'flight or fight' mode there. Of course, he immediately offers, "My apologies, I wasn't expecting that." He chuckles at the look the red-haired girl gives her companion. And then to Ren he offers, "Well, what say you? I can heal you, it'll only take a few moments. Call it 'my good deed for the day'." And then he snickers at Ren's response to Staren's mention of using tracking devices. He is, however, polite enough not to make a comment in return. Assuming Ren accepts his offer of healing, he heads over to her and places his free hand over the wound (his left, he's holding the staff in his right). Not touching the wound, but hovering just over it. A quiet Word, and the eyes of the dragons at the end of the staff glow. And between his hand and the place where the wound is, there will be a healing warmth, and a green glow. He closes his eyes, concentrating all his attention on the healing, breathing kept slow and measured. He's not the best healer in Thedas, but this is why he can't do it in battle -- he may have considerable magical strength, but he also needs to CONCENTRATE it into this singular focus. It's much easier to blow something up or set it on fire!
Staren	Staren blinks. "They run out in the open? I figured surely they'd hide in burrows in the brush..." He's about to send up drones when Orchid starts explaining. He looks at the holo-picture. "I think Septette said the deer are nasty." He looks to Orchid. "Hey, can we share map data and --" Then his eyes widen. "Delilah?!" He stares at her and looks her up and down for a moment.
Septette Arcubielle	Oddly enough, the mega-deer seem disinclined to target Orchid's drones unless they wander too close- maybe they don't instinctively parse nonhumanoid robots as an immediate threat, or maybe they're just preoccupied with keeping an eye out for their new enemies. They don't show any signs of infestation, either- at least, none recognizably similar to what the rock-boar had. Ren wordlessly accepts Dorian's offer for healing, with Tlachtga staring daggers at her the whole time. The warrior subconsciously keeps one hand on the pommel of her sheathed sword, and keeps her eyes wide open and fixed on Dorian's face throughout. After prodding the now-healed wound with a finger experimentally, she gives a satisfied nod- though it's Tlachtga who says "thank you".
Dorian Pavus	"You're quite welcome," Dorian replies. He looks at his handiwork as Ren prods at it. The area's probably still going to be tender for a while, but it's not gushing blood and there's more than just the bandage keeping her intestines from falling out. Which is always a plus.
Note	With all the scurrying RATS roaming around, Note's suddenly VERY happy that she can fly. A solid twenty feet off the ground. She now maintains this distance adamantly, lest any rats leap up onto her! "Freaky freaky freaky... nothing I run into's normal!" She's a bit mystified by these events to be sure. Curious too, yes. But also pretty disgusted. "I can fly!" The youth asserts to Yuuki, swooping out in front of her just once to demonstrate... and then rising back up with her arms folded. "Looks like... we need to find where the monsters are coming from, first of all!"
Yuuki Konno	"Hmmmmm.... how fast are those giant deer thingys?" Yuuki asks curiously. "I mean, I could try flying around them. They probably can't catch me... not if I'm not actually trying to melee them. But it might distract them enough to help some of you get past?" So saying, Yuuki manifests her wings. Black they are, batlike, with faintly shimmering stars patterned throughout the 'fabric'. She pushes off, flying upwards, and suits actions to words. She moves out to scout the giant deerthings, cautiously, to see how they'll react to her presence. And if they see her as hostile, well, she'll see how much she can kite them!
Starbound Flotilla	"Floran thinksss Floran might know sssome of the way after we get passst containment." Biteblade calls up. "But, not how for getting passst big bad animalsss. Floran thinksss, gonna do normal method for Floran. Can't fly, not good at. We jussst punch it, yeah!" She grabs one of her daggers and flicks it into a reverse grip, then grabs a handful of arrows, stuck between her fingers. This quickshot archery technique, mixed with the melee weapon on-hand, will hopefully give her a perfect hunter's approach to tear through the patrols. She takes off like a rocket, blasting towards the circle firing arrows and stabbing anything she can't get a bolt into if it comes at her in a hostile way, focusing on keeping momentum far more than she focuses on maintaining any form of continuous motion straight towards the border. And, you know, if those awful deermonsters turn out in Yuuki's scouting to be totally harmless, all the easier. Biteblade knows where to go, she thinks.
Orchid	Orchid starts a bit as Staren speaks to her. She'd double-take a look behind herself, but she knows there's no one back there. She squints at the guy. "Do... I know you?" she asks. Then Yuuki dives into the middle of things. She may have more important things to worry about than who might be stealing her look. "Whooboy." And Biteblade is also diving in. Orchid looks to the other elites there. "I think we need to follow them in. Metaphysics later."
Septette Arcubielle	One of the deer immediately notices Yuuki as she clears the treetops. It stops in its tracks and follows her with its six primary eyes for several seconds, sizing her up and analyzing her flight patterns. It tilts its head back and unhinges its lower jaw, and a bluish-white glow roils in the back of its throat. That's all the warning Yuuki gets- and hopefully all she needs- before a horrific beam of writhing light as wide as the deer itself fires from its mouth, instantly tearing through the air and slamming into the far roof of the cavern. The kinetic backblast from the beam of energy churns the mud it's standing on and sends jets of flame spewing from its hollow horns like exhaust as a keening shriek rends the air, audible even from the forward operating base. Biteblade's arrow skewers it right through the top left eye as it finishes firing, and pierces out through the back of its skull. It slowly turns to stare at her as if in furious disbelief and bars her path with its antlers, then sprints directly at her with acceleration that some sports cars would envy, aiming to trample her underhoof or gore her on its red-hot antlers!
Dorian Pavus	Dorian nods to Orchid's observation. "Indeed, lest we get left behind," he agrees. He can't fly or run any faster than an ordinary human, though, and stealth isn't his thing. Fortunately he DOES have a way to deal with covering areas of ground that have dangerous things on them. He has this interesting little magical ability called 'Fade Step', where he turns into freezing blue-white smoke for a few seconds and zooms along cold magical waves for those few seconds. Technically it's ice magic, which he's not QUITE so good at, but he makes it a point to learn utilitarian spells like this. He's going to be aiming for as complete avoidance of these beasts as possible. Particularly after the little display of power that is 'attempting to murderfy Yuuki and Biteblade'. He's going to be tired after using Fade Step so many times, but better tired than literally dead, right?"
Staren	"Biteblade, no!" Staren takes off after her, the mystery of not-Delilah having to wait. The deer is already fghting. Dammit. Giant megafauna with energy beams and heat antlers... honestly, it's not weirder than his planet, so much as this shit isn't EVERYWHERE there. He briefly considers trying a missile volley, but he doesn't want to blow through all his resources before they even find out what they're really after. Instead, he opens up with a single minimissile which explodes into a fireball, then flies into the air, peppering it with directed energy weapons -- beams and lasers.
Orchid	Orchid drops the hologram as she follows the other into the trouble. She uses her dash boots to keep up, and will be taking a detour through the branches. Someone needs to get to the center of things, and with her allies providing distractions, she might be able to get in relatively quietly.
Note	"Whoah!" Note's IMPRESSED by the beam the giant deer just unleashed! Having followed along with the others, trying to figure out HOW to approach this group instead of hanging at the fringes... but it's just too awkward to try and get people's attention right now. So, she focuses on the MUTANT DEER. And after seeing that beam... Note crosses her arms in front of her face, taking a stance in the air... and inhaaaaaaaaales! "KAIOKEN... TIMES FOUR!" Throwing her arms out, Ki just EXPLODES around the red-and-yellow-clad youth. A crimson aura that rages and surges wildly. Her arms and legs ripple as sleek muscles tighten and bulge out an inch or so... and.... Aura roaring loudly with sizzling energy, she RUSHES down into the thick of it and attempts to just KICK one of the giant deer into another, going on an intense head-on offensive!
Starbound Flotilla	SMASH! Biteblade suffers a brutal impact that glances through her armor, slamming a huge dent into it as she averts a complete crushing, albeit only barely through a swift side-strafing rush. As she does, she tries to plant a foot in the ground just where the hind foot is about to rise up, intending to trip the creature up and leave it smashing and tumbling with its massive speed, slamming down the road to somewhere else. Biteblade's bloodlust shouts at her inside her head to go try to tackle it down and bite through its neck, but instead she turns around and dashes, taking off for the epicenter, trying to lose the deer and make it to the border! She's also ducking and weaving, trying to break line of sight, because artillery-deer is not something she's a big fan of having to deal with, and the scream beam might well take her out if she has her back to it when it fires! Someone else might be able to manage that, like Note. Biteblade intends to rush to the border and hope she can evade more deer!
Yuuki Konno	Luckily Yuuki's experienced with boss battles, and a glowing blue mouthbeam is close enough to the sorts of things she's experienced that she knows what to do. Equally lucky, her speed and mobility aren't just tricks. Her patterns aren't too hard to follow, but they're also simple for her to change. Her insane speed and reactions mean she can dodge the mouthbeam even as it targets her. Even as wide as it is. That's not to say she escapes entirely consequence-free. She hadn't expected the beam to be quite so broad, or quite so forceful. Even a near-miss batters her, and she tumbles a ways before finding her aerial balance. "Whooooa! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" she demands, as if anyone could have missed it. "That's almost completely unfair!! Um, okay I got this one's attention, but I don't think sneaking by it is a good idea!" she calls out. Despite that being what some are attempting to do. Yuuki's the leader of a group of high-powered Boss Battlers... but she's really not good at high-powered battle strategy. She wheels in the air, readying her sword for an aerial charge. "Look out, Biteblade!" she cries out, trying to dart in in time to help the Flotilla fighter in a heavy-duty melee.
Septette Arcubielle	Dorian's correct in his assumption that the monsters can't touch him when he's in that speedy mist-form. Unfortunately, they can still see him- and some of them seem intelligent enough to recognize him as a potential threat. Several red and purple fish with dead yellow eyes and enormous teeth swim alongside him and Orchid in a nearby stream. They play their trap card only when Orchid and Dorian are sufficiently far away from the group dealing with the deer- they leap out of the water, but rather than hitting the ground they take to the air, magically hovering and using their fins to propel themselves! A half-dozen of them charge towards the evasive pair, fangs bared. They aren't nearly as tough as the cervine sentinels, but they're fast enough to make outrunning them a dicey proposition! It's a shame, too, because what Orchid sees ahead through her drones is flatly bizarre: on the other side of the scorched no-man's-land, rivers of glowing green goop are flowing out of a ruined dark metal compound. It's clearly manmade, yet more advanced than the other native technology they've seen so far! From somewhere on the other side of the compound is a constant slithering noise, accompanied by the heavy smashing sounds of monster-on-monster conflict.
Orchid	Nope! Stealth isn't working. Good thing Orchid has at least two advantanges; dashboots that let her move more quickly, and the forcefields she can generate with her bracers, that should buy her some time... Someone is going to help her, right? At least she can still talk on her radio.
Septette Arcubielle	After its attempt at overrunning Biteblade, the deer swerves and pivots in the narrow corridor to face the plantgirl once again... only to be distracted and dazzled by Note's bizarre glowing theatrics. Six (now five) crimson eyes fix on the Saiyan, judging her carefully... and then Note's foot slams into the deer's skull with a satisfying crunch, staving in part of its skull! ... It doesn't flinch, or stop staring at her. For a brief moment, it seems like the creature might be braindead on impact. Then its eyes flash a brilliant red, and five laser beams pulse from its eyes, boring straight into Note's chest while it headbutts her away! The beams might go on indefinitely if not for Staren's minimissiles and energy weapon blasts knocking it off-balance, staggering the beast as seared holes open up in its rough hide. It pivots around and charges towards him... Fortunately, that leaves Biteblade able to trip it up deftly! It slams facefirst into the ground, worsening the fractured bones in its skull. Just as it picks itself up from the bloodied muck, Yuuki dives in from the sky and sets upon it! For all its durability and ferocity, it's not particularly deft in close combat, and in its dazed state it can hardly defend itself from her onslaught. Finally, it collapses into the mud, still breathing but thoroughly beaten. In the distance, trumpeting and braying noises echo through the trees- its herd, intent on revenge. Whether or not they decide to finish the beast off, they'd better head towards the epicenter or the rat-nest pronto!
Dorian Pavus	It figures that something would be trying to kill them in the water too -- even when AVOIDING the water! But yes, there are evil fish trying to eat them. This is a problem that needs a swift solution. Dorian's solution? Lightning. Not just lightning, in fact, but CHAIN lightning. If the flying fish are of the schooling kind, like piranhas, then they'll be close enough to make this a very dangerous prospect for themselves. He pauses, and then rounds on the fish to confront them, the dragon heads sparking with electricity. He slams the end of the stff on the ground, and a bolt of lightning leaps from the staff, one that tries to chain between several of the flying fish enemies.
Septette Arcubielle	Whether due to her stealth, her lack of biological lifesigns, or simply Dorian looking scarier, only one of the fish lunges for Orchid. It's trying to latch onto her leg and drag her back away from the quarantine zone! Fortunately, even if it latches on, its bite strength isn't sufficient to pierce her forcefield... but Dorian's electric spell, while devastatingly effective against the fish, just might skim uncomfortably close to the reploid as a result! The five fish closer to Dorian, followed a second later by Orchid's, fall out of the sky and slam into the ground, sizzling and twitching. They're free to head deeper now, as foreboding as the path ahead is- rivers of bubbling green goop and skittering black limbs dot the ground, making walking a dicey proposition.
Staren	Staren takes to the air as soon as the deer looks at him. Whether he was fast enough turns out not to matter when Biteblade trips it and Yuuki falls upon it. Staren falls upon it as well. Beams, electric shocks, and just tearing into it with robot strength. He doesn't know if it can regenerate, or how tough it really is... He's going to make sure it can't get back up, although he won't go as far as-- actually, nevermind. Now there's something else out there. He tears a hole in the body and leaves a fw plasma grenades inside on a timer. Just to be sure. He takes off, flying for the mysterious center. Or th rat's nest if everyone else goes that way.
Orchid	Orchid winces. Not from the fish, or from being hit by the chain lightning, but by the electromagnetic interferance the spell creates. It HURTS her sensitive radio senses, and she's paralized for a moment, trying to sort it out, and get back to herself.
Septette Arcubielle	The inside of the quarantined area is a warzone, and it's only picking up. The most obvious hazards are the rivers of glowing mutagen, which- oddly enough- only scan as very mildly radioactive. Infested monster corpses are lying about, some still covered in twitching limbs, and others completely ruptured and being picked over by their own parasites. Just as many of the infested monsters are still alive, ranging from purple rats that still have eyes to green hedgehog-like creatures to purple fish and sea-slug-like organisms, all sprouting the same twitching insectile limbs. Even the ground is sprouting the black crablike appendages in places- something that has not escaped the monsters' notice. As the Elites enter the containment zone, a proper bombardment starts: huge fireballs and crackling orbs of electricity arc lazily from the forest outside of the zone to splash inside it, blackening and scouring the earth in swathes where they land. As one of the larger fireballs is launched, a bellowing roar resounds from its unseen source that sounds uncomfortably similar to a dragon. More pressingly, the facility in the center of a scorched clearing seems to be actively pumping the mutagen into a nearby river: one of its walls is torn down, with pipes haphazardly bent to pour into the stream. Several deactivated machine-gun turrets line its outer walls; though powered, they are completely unresponsive, though perhaps they could be coerced into waking up.. On the far side of the facility, the earth writhes as copper-and-azure annelids tunnel through it. Oddly, the huge worms don't seem to be infested- though the giant silvery-gray piscoid monster that stomps the ground and lunges at them with bared fangs whenever they surface certainly is. On closer inspection, the worms seem to be attempting to undermine the facility's foundation!
Note	CRUNCH! is not quite what Note was expecting. SENDING THE DEER FLYING is more what she was expecting. But she'll take this... kind of. Right up until the thing GLARES evilly at her and her instincts scream 'GUARD UP!' So her arms are raised and Ki focused on defense, though it only does SO much good. The beams slam into her and drive her back a few feet, scorchign her arms... but it's the headbutt that sends her tumbling through the air until she hits the ground and drags a hand to slow down... "ow ow ow! What're these things made of...?! Don't they feel any pain...?!" She doesn't have much time to think about it, because... the otehrs do it in pretty soundly. She frowns. Even with the others trumpeting about their intentions to get revenge... she's not so enthused by the sight of it just LAYING THERE... "H-hey, wait for me!" But with EVERYONE ELSE dashing off, she's forced to let the Kaioken energy dwindle. Her aura shifts to a much gentler and smoother white, and she rockets off after the others! "Why's everyone always have to GANG UP on everything?" The girl grumps mopily, and probably rhetorically.
Orchid	Okay, Orchid is going into the deapths of the quarantined zone. She's sent out about half her spiders so far, and on examining the ruined facility, more spiders leave her armor to get closer looks. She's specifically looking for power supplies, pump controls, weapon controls, and/or any computers that might have records of what happened here. Oh, and she's noticing the shaking through her spiders. She may have to look for 'purification' measures too. "I think I may be able to do something," she announces, "But it may take me some time."
Staren	"You're welcome to stay here after the mission and fight to your heart's content." Staren quips to Note before flying off for the strange facility. The monstes... have artillery magic? But it's not aimed at him, so the facility is a more pressing concern. Without monsters manning it, he tries to scope it out and look for... pump mechanisms, or controls, or something.
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade has a distressing sort of urgency here. Why ISN'T she jumping onto that still-living beast and trying to tear its meat out? Normally that's what she'd be doing. Maybe she had a big breakfast? Well, either way, she's taking off at a madman's pace straight for the interior of the big quarantine zone, going at a breakneck dash for the facility within. Surely there will be foes between the border of the quarantine and the facility, but that's what the big bow still danging in one of her hands is for, as is the huge dagger. Ohhhhh that's a lot of danger. At least the size is a little easier to deel with. She can deal with lashing insectile arms, she can skewer dangerous rats and hedgehogs and -- space carp? -- and sea slugs, sure, or at the very least evade them, but she can only weave and zig-zag to avoid the artillery fire. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!" She shouts the entire time, in kind of an urgent panic to get where she's going AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!! Those turrets... Are still lit up! Yes! Power is still going! Orchid can handle the real control systems and such, certainly. Staren is a better mechanic, no doubt. Biteblade's going to suffer her way on a breakneck pace straight for the central spine of things, where one might find data storage, and the reactor, quite likely to be centered around similar cooling apparatuses. What's the plan THERE?
Dorian Pavus	Once free enough to go deeper into the source of the issue, Dorian makes a disgusted face at the sight of the contaminated junk. "Ugh," he comments. "Now who put THIS here?" Because clearly this facility, and the crap it's spitting into the river, didn't just pop up naturally. Now... Dorian's not going to give this too much thought. Only that the flow of that green crap needs to be stopped. So what's he going to try first? Well, if he can get close enough, he's going to just try to freeze the stuff coming out, to at least try to slow its progression into nature. Yeah the environment might be an ungrateful shit about it and the wildlife's still gonna want to kill everything, but HEY, at least if he tries to help it's CLEARLY being ungrateful rather than there being any justifiable reason for it!
Septette Arcubielle	The inside of the facility is small, cramped, and simple. There are racks holding empty gray canisters, glass vats- full and intact, or smashed and half-empty- of the glowing green mutagen, some basic computers, and not a whole lot else. Most of the computers here have been thoroughly destroyed- some in the haphazard fashion of monsters, and others far more thoroughly and deliberately. There are, however, a few things of interest. One of the computers is still intact and powered: it controls the turrets, the pump system, and something called an EMERGENCY GUNGNIR PURGE. That last one is locked behind a password, though it's probably within Orchid's capacity to crack, and demands a confirmation before being activated. More interesting to Staren, perhaps, is a lone guardsman lying against the back wall of the facility, seemingly dragged there from outside by monsters if the trail of goop and blood is any indication. His lower body is mangled beyond recognition, there are bitemarks all over his arms and chest, he's smeared in green goop, and he seems to have totally bled out... but his head is still intact. Biteblade, meanwhile, might find a single screen-less server hidden in a corner, with wires running to all kinds of sensors on the insides of the vats. There's an access port for data transfer on the server, and- more importantly- reactor controls. She might be able to overload the turrets to increase their efficiency, or do something considerably more destructive...
Yuuki Konno	Was that some kind of dragon?! This zone is clearly as hostile and deadly as anything in Aincrad, but that just makes things more fun for Yuuki. She sets down near Biteblade, preparing to be rearguard. "Go on ahead. I'll be right behind." she offers the Florian, intending it as no insult. It's just that she can fly, so she's less likely to be the one caught in a trap. She runs after Biteblade, shrieking in similar fashion. "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" she cries, though her tone sounds more excited than panicky. Avoiding mutagen pools all the same, and occasionally taking time out to stab something in her way. Once she reaches the center, she starts looking around. Somewhat cluelessly, it must be said. She could possibly figure it all out, but she instinctively looks to someone who might actually know what they're doing rather than just poking around until the quest progresses.
Orchid	Okay, time for Orchid to do her thing. She is looking to take over those turrets, and once she does, she loses her normal reluctance about attacking. She stops the pumps as soon as she can, and aims the machine-gun turrets at the nearest mutants, firing with great abandon! Of course, that's only part of the solution, as she attempts to crack that code. As for that server in the basement, her spiders are going to try and interface with that data port, but that's secondary, and there's only so much she can do from a distance.
Septette Arcubielle	Dorian's ice magic proves sufficient to sigificantly slow the bleed of mutagen into the river. The pumps closing, combined with his emergency pipe-corking, shut it off completely! That ought to stop the spread of the infestation for now, if not indefinitely: there's still a frightening amount of the liquid inside the facility that needs to be dealt with one way or another. Yuuki and Note will shortly get their answer as to what needs to be done next: the huge fish-monster rips one of the worms out of the ground with its teeth, crushes the annelid's head under its feet with a seismic shockwave, and bellows triumphantly as its parasitic limbs chitter. Then it turns its malevolent gaze on the Elites outside. Its glowing lure-whiskers raise into the air, electricity crackling between them like a Jacob's Ladder. Then it fires a trio of sizzling electric bolts- one each at Dorian, Note, and Yuuki! If they won't come to the boss fight, the boss fight is determined to come to THEM.
Starbound Flotilla	YANK ALL THE DATA QUICK FAST. Biteblade quickly jams a quite compatible control cable into the port on the server. Her plan? Well obviously overload the reactor. Not just so it breaches, so that it explodes. Turn the entire facility into a tactical warhead. She even manages to use her own understanding of engineering when it comes to things like this to try to estimate a precise quantity of buildup for the reaction to make it go critical in a way that annihilates the facility juuuust to the border of the quarantine; Orchid's too busy with the dozens of turrets to get to this matter quite so effectively, but not just that, Biteblade seems to have a particularly forceful interest in this. Then, instead of pulling the data off the server itself, or networks it might be connected to, she just slams the clamps off of it and starts pulling out stacks of hard drives. "Yeah yeah yeah yeah!" She yells, shoveling them into her Matter Manipulator, and then trying to eyeball her own calculations for reactor time! Hopefully that'll settle matters. "Heyyyy! Floran ssset reactor for big kaboooooom, gotta get rid of biohazard! Kill anything gonna break quarantine line, then probably gotta run fassst!"
Staren	Staren looks at the computer, then Orchid moves in. "Turn off the pumps! Don't do the purge without finding out exactly what it is, though... it might just dump MORE of this stuff out!" He ses the guard and approaches, shaking his head... and then sees... that it's not very deteriorated. This is recent damage... He applies a nanobandage, trusting the medical nanites to prioritize preservation at this point, and picks up the body with the matter manipulator for later saving. Only for Biteblade to announce she's set the place to blow. "Oh come on, not EVERY reactor is designed to explode! How do you know it'll clean up the biohazard?!" Still, he's ready to get out of there.
Septette Arcubielle	It's not at all difficult to rig up the turrets to fire on the infested monsters- hell, they already had "Etrian monsters" as a predefined entity in their friend-or-foe database. The barrels spin up at Orchid's command, then unleash hell on everything hostile. The bullets have a minimal effect on the fishbeast's thick scales, but the lesser monsters- detached spidery limbs included- are decimated within moments, and even the huge boss starts taking chip damage as more of the guns refocus on it. Cracking the GUNGNIR PURGE option is surprisingly easy, though an examination of the code reveals that its sole function is to transmit some kind of signal to an unnamed offsite device. The password is a little puzzling, once she's uncovered it: "THE KING BENEATH" is not exactly the sort of phrase most people would use. There is, of course, a big ol' flashing warning prompt asking Orchid if she REALLY wants to activate it... though disappointingly, no big red button. They may not need it after all: the entire facility shudders and groans quietly, both from its foundation being undermined by the worms and from the reactor going into DANGEROUS OVERDRIVE thanks to Biteblade's antics! With that data secured, they probably ought to consider getting out while the getting's good.
Yuuki Konno	Yuuki takes to the air once again to fight the giant fishbeast, doing her best to stay in its blind spots as she hacks away at it in one place, only to vanish as it tries to locate her, popping up again in another place to continue carving away at it. It's huge though, and her blade is small, so she's not likely to be doing much damage. She's surely annoying though, and annoying big bosses is what she's good at! When she hears the others mention purging and running and stuff, she nods. "I'll be right behind you! Don't worry about me, I'm quick!" she calls out. So they won't be killing the boss mob and looting it... oh well. She's not even sure what sort of loot, if any, this zone produces. Well, loot's not really important except as a way of keeping score anyways.
Dorian Pavus	Ack, they've been spotted! "Oh lovely," Dorian mutters, half under his breath. He has a barrier spell, and it's a damn good thing too, because the electric bolt is fast enough that he can't get out of the way, and strong enough to obliterate a single casting of that barrier... with some bleedthrough! Bleedthrough that sends a shock through Dorian, and blasts him back a short distance. Thankfully not into the river. Because that would really suck. Getting this green mutagen stuff on him would probably be bad. But hey, since the fishmonster wants to open ANOTHER can of worms in addition to the worm it's just eaten, Dorian's up for that. The eyes of the dragon heads at the end of that staff glow again... but this time with a malevolent purple color. And as he swings the staff in the fishmonster's direction, a small purplish-black orb of some kind fires out from the space between the three dragon heads. It really doesn't look like much, and it really isn't. Not initially, at least. But what it IS, is a small bit of necromantic energy, that seeks to start bleeding the monster of life energy. It's not trying to give that energy to Dorian, no... it's basically magical equivalent of 'bleed', minus actual blood. That's just a discouragement, mind. Dorian's more concerned with getting out of the area, considering Biteblade's warning about the place about to go up. Or down. Or whatever's going on with it. Once the group starts to leave the area, he's going to follow, Fade Stepping through the area as quick as he can, to get out of the range of any possible splash or explosion.
Orchid	Whether they push it or not, Orchid isn't going to be the one to activate the command, she's leaving a spider behind to do that, if need be. But with that set up, she starts making for what she hopes will be a safe distance. Oh, and she's bringing a copy of the encrypted command code, just in case they decide to activate the King Beneth later, or somewhere else.
Note	The party has finally found someplace important! And most of it makes absolutely no sense to Note. A lot of machinery of indiscernable purpose. So, as she usually does with things she doesn't understand, Note disregards it and leaves it to the experts... instead deciding to just look around and reach out with her senses... And that means she gets just a hint of a warning before KABOOM! HERE COMES FISHBEAST! Note regards the monster with a look of disdain and frustration... probably because it's a GIANT MONSTER and probably not even decently EDIBLE, so it's neither a simulating martial arts challenge OR a good meal. "RRRRRGH! Go away! And bring back something that fights with fists!" Note shouts irritably to the heavens, blitzing forward-- but then LIGHTNING! Due to PURE RECKLESSNESS, she charges straight INTO the lightning and FREEZES IN MIDAIR< lit up liek a torch for a moment... only to tumble down ALMOST to the river. But she swoops out of the dive at the last moment. "Two... can play at that game!" Just as haphazardly, Note leverages a palm towards the beast, unleashing a Ki blast as thick as she is!
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade can hear a real party outside. Between the artillery, the reactor, the entire building being about to drop an entire stratum down, the ongoing war of monsters, the turrets, and everything else, it's time to geeeet out of here! Who even knows what the GUNGNIR PURGE could wind up being, but when it meets everything else here, Biteblade doesn't wanna be near it. She tears ass as fast as she can out of the breached wall, leaping over mutagenic pools, and joining the others in their fleeting with rocket-speed superhuman dashing. "HEY! Flying shout! Get running away, not fighting, time isss to goooooooo!!" Oh right, they've gotta deal with the deer at the edge. FUCK! Biteblade calls out, "Hard left! Remember bad deer! Floran doesssn't want to get lasssered!" She laterally a bit, hoping she can punch through the quarantine somewhere away from the pack of marauding cervids and get free of the area.
Septette Arcubielle	Yuuki's harassment does more than just annoy the giant fishbeast- its main body may be a scale-plated tank, but it has lots of little fiddly bits that are ripe for gouging and lopping off! Case in point: one of the electric lure-whiskers, which it tries to use to block her sword, only to discover that Yuuki's considerably more dangerous than whatever it's used to fighting off! The tendril flies off in a bloody arc to fall on the ground, twitching and sparking. Might be worth something! Dorian's ball of necromantic energy splashes over the catfish's face. It looks almost comically confused for a moment at the seemingly impactless attack... then roars angrily as it realizes what's happening! Mist-form or no, it breaks into an open gallop across the blasted clearing towards the irritating spellcaster, black claws snipping and gnashing at the air. Note's ki-blast comes just in time to slam into its side, sending it reeling in a spray of iridescent ablative scales! It may be heavier and larger than the deer, but it isn't half as stable of a platform, and collapses onto its side for a moment from the raw kinetic kick. By the time it struggles back onto its feet, Dorian's long gone. Biteblade, unfortunately, has the terrible luck of running into ANOTHER hell-deer just as she leaves the clearing, despite her evasive maneuvers! It stares into her face with eyes of undiluted rage... then raises its gaze, staring into the clearing and spotting the fishbeast within. The cervine monster LEAPS over her head to land on the battlefield and, sensing weakness, trumpets in a multitonal shriek from its organ-like antlers. A horde of uninfested monsters pours into the clearing behind it, in every variety they've seen so far and several they haven't. The shrieking builds as the deer begins charging its horrific laser as it aims at the fishbeast, and a tidal wave of piranha-rats floods over the scorched ground in front of it. Even without the reactor-overload countdown in the mix, now really would be a good time to leave.
Staren	Staren hurries out after Biteblade, just having to trust that noone will activate the purge without knowing what it actually does. Even fleeing self-destruct, F.O.E.! Confronted by the deer, the missile launchers on Staren's shoulders rise into firing positions... but it found something else to do. He resumes running.
Note	Well. Good deeds are being done, even if Note's - as usual- disappointed by the THINGS that are being fought! Giant monsters just aren't really as FUN as martial arts vs martial arts! But so be it. "Hah! Down you go!" The Saiyan-blooded girl exclaims, flashing a V-sign out with her fingers at the knockdown... But with everyone else leaving and screaming in a hurry, Note realizes... yeah... NOT gonna stay around. So she swoops around and rockets off, swooping down to match Staren! One hand's behind her, palm facing the horde... and Ki Blasts keep BURSTING from it at irregular intervals as she tries to talk to him! "Are you ALWAYS doing things like this?!"
Dorian Pavus	Yeah no, Dorian's not about to stop running. Or Fade Stepping. That fish monster can just eat Dorian's very icy dust. And then suddenly the environment disgorges MORE of these hellish murderbeasts in a veritable tide. An almost LITERAL one. Escape becomes even MORE important then... but at this rate at least one of them is going to get caught up in the tide. So Dorian does something stupid. He stops running. Not for long, mind you. Just long enough to raise a wall of ice between the fleeing Elites and the tide of monsters trying to tear into them. It probably won't hold terribly long, but he's not trying to make an unbreakable wall. He's just trying to buy them enough time to get the hell out of there! Speaking of getting the hell out of there, that's what he's going to concentrate on doing!
Orchid	So it's a cave system. Still, Orchid can pull out her rocket surfboard and climb on. She thinks she can get away, dodging around the local, uninfected monsters. She has one of her energy shields out, and is trying to slomom through the bruned placts as she aims for the base camp.
Staren	Staren turns his head to look at Note. Despite running as fast as a car, he isn't out of breath, because this body doesn't need to breathe. "Not like this exactly, but... I doubt it's the first time for any particular element. Sorry you didn't get to have a good knock-down drag-out. The monsters will still be here after we get to safety."
Septette Arcubielle	Those who have already escaped the quarantine zone will easily find their way back to the forward operating camp, assuming they don't- for some reason- decide to explore the area further. By now Ren has acquired several more scratches on her face and hands, and Tlachtga is looking noticeably drained. The other soldiers seem to be in high spirits, and there's a roaring bonfire of crab-limbs nearby. "Not sure what you did," the warrior says as she stands up from sharpening her blade, "but we had to put down a whole wave of runners. Think that's a good sign. Rats fleeing the ship." She pauses to pick a piece of black chitin out of a wound in her arm. Tlachtga nods once in assent, then perks up as if abruptly remembering something. "Thank you for... bringing back Jake. Well, not bringing BACK, not yet, but- um. Yes." She clears her throat. Something jingles and clatters under her cloak as she does. "Anyway. We found-" There's an earthshaking explosion in the distance that briefly illuminates the quarantine zone with the light of a second sun. Anyone still watching it on sensors will be able to see that there is a perfectly circular hole where the center of the corruption- and the facility itself- used to be. It's transformed into a charred sinkhole leading directly into a roiling lava ocean hundreds of feet below. When the light fades, Tlachtga is hiding behind a tree, nervously peeking around it with one eye. Ren, betraying no trace of any surprise whatsoever, continues seamlessly in her place: "We found where the rats were taking things. Throwing themselves into a pool of lava. One of our guys dug out some stuff that wouldn't melt." She gestures towards a person-sized sack full of lightly-charred monster materials, mostly super-durable bones and exotic organic crystals! "Divy it up however you want. I think you've earned it."
Starbound Flotilla	BAD BAD BAD BAD THERE'S A LOT OF DANGER HERE. Biteblade breaks hard right. "NEVER MIND." She calls out, eyes wide with a sort of panic. "FLORAN GOING OTHER WAY!" She has GOT to get out of the line of fire between that deer and the main targets! She scootches over on a strafing path, leaping towards the border of the quarantine and trying to make sure that godawful beam doesn't give her a fancy new chest hole. It takes her a while, but she gets back to the forward operating camp, slumping over on her knees for a moment and panting exhaustedly. "Hhhhaaaaahhhh... Hhhhaaaaahhhh... Floran overload reactor! Burn down place." She says cheerfully between heavy breaths. Then she sort of lies down exhaustedly on her back near the big sack of excessively durable bones. "Pour onto Floran like cash in musssic video!" She calls out eagerly. That might hurt more than she expected. She's got what she needed though. For whatever reason she seemingly needed it, anyway, whatever value it might be presenting in this situation. The bones are a good bonus, though.
Orchid	Orchid slides in at the base, tumbling off the rocket surfboard. "I think we're at the 'you should see the other guy' point," she says, as she forces herself back to her feet.
Staren	"I did see the other guy. He's missing half his body." Staren points out. He'll analyze some of the crystals and bones later... And tells them to hold some for him. For now, he heads back to the teleporter to see about getting... 'Jake' reinstantiated in VR for interrogation.
Note	Note is GLAD she decided to stick with Staren when the BOMB GOES off, so bright that she has to shield her eyes from the blast even when not looking directly AT it! Yikes! But she's looking a bit freaked. And... not terribly interested in the monster parts. She glances at it... and shrugs! "This is one STRANGE world... where do deer that powerful come from?!"