Of Steam and Steel: IC (Mature) {Currently Open}

[Gabi]

Thoughts in the air

"I know some air magic," Ana replied. "That includes altering the air's temperature, but if you're thinking of melting that thing, then that's far too much to ask. I can summon wind, though. If we find a vulnerable spot, then a strong gust of wind can improve the effect of any projectiles we may use."

[JamesCray]

Stupid In the Guild Hall

Johan was becoming increasingly frustrated by being unable to discern what was going on inside. On the outside, he was relatively safe, but he could do nothing. Inside a lovely vixen, an apparent adventurer, had been followed by an angel, and the sound of a commotion could be heard within. He told himself that the adventuress was most likely quite capable of taking care of herself, that he could be making a fool of himself over nothing, and that he was being an imbecile in allowing his sense of chivalry to override his common sense.

"Oh well, in for a penny and all..." Johan sighed, and made his way back to the entrance, where he slipped in through the half open doors.

[AmberCross]

I hold with those who favor fire [...] but [...] for destruction ice is also great and would suffice.

The moment cracks appeared on the first gun, Chris made his move on the second. Then the insectis found him and he decided this was a terrible idea. Not that it hadn't already occurred to him several times before, but this time he actually listened to it. It seemed a hasty retreat was in order, and not away from the machines where the guns could hit him. Instead he let go and maneuvered himself through a series of air kicks to another leg where he turned back into a ferret.

So with plan B in tatters (plan A had been run away... but he couldn't bring himself to fall back to that just yet) Chris was left wondering if there was anything he COULD do. But seeing the guns crack had given Chris another idea. A plan C if you will. It was an old trick that if something metal was too strong to break a series of hot and cold would cause it to stress and fracture. This was too big to attack properly, but if he could take out its (already limited) ability to move, maybe that would make it easier to get away from or at least help others get away. There was a bit of a problem with the magnitude of the energy required maybe, and he also wasn't terribly good at fire spells, but that had never really stopped him before.

So Chris found a somewhat critical looking leg joint (as critical as it gets when there are 30 or so legs) and started an inferno as focused as he was able to. Then when it began to glow (or was as hot as he was able to get it) he plunged it into frigid ice, ready to repeat the process as necessary. There was no way he was going to be able to take down this on his own or even break more than one or maybe two legs but Chris had always been a sucker for heroics.


(edited slightly after consulting with the GM)

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Addy holstered her hammer and gave the patient a stern glare. Duke Wolkshammar really needed to train his people better in the recognition of healer's insignia. "I am a Doctor of St. Vesalius."

Reluctantly she stripped off her gloves and carefully stored them in her coat pocket. "Shrapnel you say?" Without waiting for an answer she pulled a half dozen little metal disks that glowed faintly white from one pouch. She began arranging them on the feline's abdomen, attempting to locate the extent of the metal fragments inside by various color changes. Addy couldn't use a healing spell until she ensured the shrapnel wasn't going to cause more damage. Engaged by the puzzle her expression became something nearly pleasant.

[Inumo]

Like Multiplying by the Complex Conjugate...

Summoning a spear? Knew I should have gone to a magic academy... Kathostral twisted to dodge the spear, landing hard on his back. After a moment of enjoyment, he rolled back to dodge whatever the arms master would throw next, then push back off towards her, using another magic blast to propel him along, his spear arm out to clothesline her if she went towards his right side, while he aimed his shield arm fist to the ground in preparation for a counter move.

[Paladin Sheppard]

In Soviet Russia, hole goes down you!


After landing Paige took a quick look at her surroundings, she hadn't been down many Bug holes but it was looking very much like the few she had, and as most were described. Nodding to herself, Paige touched the stone at her throat as she set off, sending her thoughts to Baseel. "I'm down, and it looks like a standard tunnel system. I can feel him just  ahead  shouldn't be too hard to catch him."

Paige sent her light globe on ahead as she ran towards the Bug's tunnel, sticking to the shadows just behind it as not to make herself a target if the bug tried to ambush her.

[SquirrelWizard]

Stephan looked out the window and watched the landscape flow by while Ed rattled along about SAIA.

He had taken a new shirt from his bag; it was just a simple dress shirt that had been hardly worn, but more importantly it had slits to allow him to wear it without making his wings disappear. It had been a gift from Mary, a gentle nudge to remind him of what he was. Something he never really accepted. He had traveled to many towns performing as a stage magician, and had seen quite a bit of Nhylamar, and he knew the world was a big place; but this made it seem so much bigger, almost too much. Something in the back of his mind urged him to hide his wings as he had always done; blend in. It whispered that it would cause him trouble, that trouble for him would mean trouble for the people he cared about. "You can be normal again, nobody could know the difference," the thought lingered for a split second before being quashed by an even more darker tone, "Yes, run back and become a sideshow freak again. The magician who's final act is to somehow convince others that he's truly something he is not. A lie."

Stephan sighed, he really wished his father was here. He should be here, maybe this change wouldn't seem so drastic, so sudden, but he wasn't. Fact of the matter was, what happened next would lie solely in his hands whether he liked it or not. It was time to man up.

"Is there anything I should watch out for as part of the Noctali clan? Should I need to warn my sister about this?"

[Azlan]

Spacing in the Guild


Locke was a bit surprised to find the vixen was a member of the Cubi race.  This made things both easier and more complicated at the same time.

"Well my lady," Locke said as he bowed appropriately for a creature of his station and title, "My name is Locke Pyrinost-Highwynd.  I seek aid in my august endeavours.  I have been plying the airways and harassing Aeliseium and Ahnk' Ator shipping as a dully invested privateer."

The cheetah angel sighed, "I am not a greedy creature, I seek to do my part... on my own terms, against those that bring unreasonable aggression to us all.  I need dependable warriors, possibly those that may have experience as crew on an aeroship, who are willing to show restraint and not inflict undue casualty against those we will be attacking.  I have managed to keep my operations relatively bloodless."

He paused before adding, "if your membership is not hire-able for this type of thing, I hoped you might at least have connection to those that might."   

[Chairtastic]

Up, up, up, up the stairs we go.

After presenting his ticket to the proper authorities, the demon ram ventured to the lift and instructed the girls to drop the case next to him.  There was so much needing to be done, and all before tomorrow morning, ugh.  Haien had only paid for enough tickets for his entourage, and Kyaka.  His accounts were going to be strained as is.  Given the sheer amount of cubi around, he gestured to Kyaka in a simple Adventurer's code.  "Be prepared to fight."  Saving any actual talking for when they were on the ship itself.

[[Blarghpost.]]

[Noone]

Puppet Master

Windows frosted over, great, can't see out of them. People inside seem unconcerned or uncaring... bizarre...

The back entrance goes to cargo containers... maybe the military personnel will be able to fend off those outside... doubtful.
He made a brief scan around the car... particularly looking at armed and military personnel to see what they were doing.
If they leave and fail... I may want to go back a car and look for a weapon, but for now I probably shouldn't... I would only harm my chances of getting out of this alive if they focused on me...
So he waited... for the moment.

[Lisky]

Now You're an Accessory To Murder

The being bolted at being told of where the sound was, and, judging by the ways his ears snapped that way, he'd heard the noises too.  With all the intrusions gone, it left Avram in an awkward silence for a few moments.  There was more rustling, heavy footsteps in the distance.  For an old man, that badger was damn fast, and he was going all out.

Things seemed to settle down for a moment, that is, until a very deep thump echoed, followed by a shrill scream In the distance.


It's Slower Than Molasses, But It Certainly is Impressive

Rendard spoke rather nonchalantly, replying to Seth, "If I had to choose a word, glacial might be appropriate.  It's slow, very slow... Given what I can tell from here, it's probably a mostly steel construct...It's going to be ridiculously heavy... chances are we just need to brittle up the metal and it'll fracture under stress of use.  That's what I think we ought to try, anyways.   I mean, Nadia, you remember how Sergeant Bressarok took out that Aelis heavy, right?  Froze the ankle with an ice-bolt, and took a simple steel rod to the frozen joint while it was unable to maneuver properly."

Nadia replied, "Ya... but this thing is just a whee bit bigger, and has just a few more guns.  Freezing up a solid plate isn't as easy as dropping an ice-shard spell into an exposed joint.  Besides, you failed  to answer Seth's other question. Looking at the stacks, I'd say they've got a boiler per 2 or 3 legs..... perhaps even a smaller boiler per leg that they're routing the exhaust out the top through a set of connected pipes... I see at least ten smaller vents on the top, behind those turrets."


Hit The Weak Points For Massive Damage

Getting the heat to actually catch the leg was draining for Chris. It took several minutes to heat the heavy armor to any significant degree, and even then, it was difficult to tell if it was surface heat, or if he'd managed to get the high temperature to the core.  The metal was finally giving off a faint glow.
As the ice crystals started to form, the where could here chittering from above.  Suddenly a pair of ropes flew down from the flank of the great war machine.  He didn't have much time to react at all.


Battlefield Medicine

The leg-fracture was fairly severe, but straightforward.  It was a compression fracture, meaning the bone was crushed, and in several to several dozen small pieces, however, given his very sudden lack of mobility, Sister Addy could tell that the bone-fragments were roughly were they were supposed to be.  The shrapnel, on the other-hand, was a bit more difficult.  Three small shards were resting around the being's kidneys, while another two fragments had positioned themselves precarious close to his Liver.  There was a larger sliver of metal that had gotten itself stuck just under the ribcage.  Any sudden movements on the being's part were running the risk of puncturing one of the many blood-vessels heading to the lower heart.


Guild Hall Foyer

As Johan managed to peek through the door, he'd note the commotion was far to his right, while the angel was at the top of a set of stairs almost directly in front of him.  The Vixen was busy conversing with the angel, which he could pretty clearly hear that conversation, though he'd missed most of the context anyways.  Over to his right, he could pretty clearly hear the spar going on in the background.  The smack of steel on steel, and wood on steel gave a pretty clear idea just how intense the blows would be should they actually land.

At the top of the Stairs, Locke would be greeted with a playful smirk.  "I'll have to see what guild requirements need attending before I can either confirm nor deny my ability to go on such an adventure.  Though, you can rest assured that there is interest.  If you're in port for a few more hours, I can easily gather some members who are available for hire.   Do you have any particular skill sets you're looking for, Sir Pyrinost-Highwynd?"


This World Is Filled With Violence, Little Specs of Sand

Kathostral could feel the metal on wood of her shield catching his spear-shaft, just before slamming into her throat.  A loud clattering of her own pike falling helplessly to the ground as she quickly moved her other arm over to brace the shield as well.  The visible dent left from the blow was impressive to say the least,  metal buckled inward, and warped the shield slightly.

She very quickly drew a blade, a vicious, curved saber, just shy of 3 feet long, hidden by the edges of her shield.  The sword had a large pommel, and hand-guard, studded with spikes to give it extra weight and force, a second weapon in and of itself.  The jaguaress performed a quick leap, before spreading her wings, and adding a concussion spell to give her an impressive speed on the full lunge.   The shield was leading, and her arm was cocked back, ready to strike.


Dig Through the Ditches, and Burn Through the Witches

Sliding into a larger tunnel still, Paige arrived just before she caught sight of the small bugger.  He was thin, narrow, and resembled something of an upright ant.   Lanky taken to a factor of 10 would be the best way to describe this little scout.   It half ran, half slid down the tunnel-ramp the she-wolf was watching.  It turned, chittered something unintelligible, but clearly hostile as the angry and violent emotions flooded the tunnel.  The bug started to make a move for another tunnel.


Haunts Me in My Waking Dreams

Ed looked at Stephan and shrugged , "I'm not too sure of anything beyond Ahnasazi politics, and I can tell you that we're not at war, if that's what you're asking.  It's something to ask the headmistress, she's the one who'd be able to give you the best idea of clan politics.  Actually... most of your questions could be answered by her in a few minutes, far, far better than anything I'm capable of.  As for family... well... most clan feuds turn personal... it's a 'member 1 of clan a' and 'member 2 of clan b' hate each other... Unless you've managed to really piss off the wrong clan, genocide isn't much of a risk.  Your family should be safe"

The train continued on, softly rattling and shifting very little.  They had another hour or two to go before reaching the Voethfellian border.
   

Gone Too Far to Go Back

On the inside of the car Kyirri could plainly see the dark figure approaching.  He could see it's silhouette against the door's frosted glass pane.   The car seemed strangely unaware of anything as long, blackened bony fingers slowly eased the door opened.   They seemed totally ignorant of the creature amongst them as the door crept ever more opened.  Time seemed to slow for the little rat, as everything in his body told him to run. 

As he felt this need to run, he heard a terrified scream, along with multiple gunshots near the opening door.  A deep, throaty, feral roar, and a sharp snapping sound.  There was the sickly sound of something sharp slapping into soft flesh.  The deformed beasts seemed roughly humanoid, though slouched, with dark tumor-covered flesh, and spotty patches of dark fur.   They had very ape-like facial features, contorted into looks of pure, un-adultered rage.  His mind told him "run! RUN NOW!"


Elevators and Airships

The phoenix signaled back  "okay, whatever.  Get your ass on the elevator"  It was clear that people were getting impatient and it was also clear that they weren't going to have much time to check out the airship before launch.

Once Haien was aboard, he would note that the cabins were setup as small offices for this particular flight, he and his party shared their compartment with a pair of demons.   A male coyote, of brilliant red and gold, and a female collie of azure-blue and brilliant white.  They seemed to be a recently engaged couple, given the ring the collie wore.  On top of the way they practically oozed over each other.  The other pair seemed a couple of business partners, a bizarre gaggle of eyeballs and purple tentacles that had a briefcase floating around from limb to limb, along with a tiger angel conversing with the grape pudding monster from hell.  Neither pair seemed interested in Haien and his cohorts.


Don't Cry No More, Don't Cry

Lucy watched as the small child curled into a ball almost instinctively once she was placed on the couch.  The village was completely dead, the houses empty, the city bare.  The smoke a drifting memory in the wind as the last of the embers died down in afternoon sun.  Clouds blocked the sun, a storm-head was moving in. 

Examining the huts and houses would reveal a total lack of bodies.  There was little evidence the village even existed in the first place, save for the buildings.

As Arroyo allowed himself his full powers, it also allowed his sensitivity to magic to be cranked up to full as well.  He'd note a strange aura not far from the camp.  It was too weak to be something living, but there was something which a considerably heavier magical signature than the surrounding area.

In a bush, there was long, white wand, well polished, with faint swirls.  Perhaps horn, bone or ivory of construction, the wand was about the same length as the feline's forearm, from the wrist to elbow, and about as thick at it's base as his middle finger.  The wand came to a needle-sharp point, and furthermore there was an inscription near the dull end, in old Voethfellian.  He recognized parts of the characters, but not what they actually meant.

Over by the burnt down orphanage, all that seemed to remain were the twisted ruins.  The smoke was done, and all the remained were the residual smoke from the earlier saturation.  It was a somber sight, a reminder of just how evil creatures really were. 

[Tapewolf]

"Is there any value," Seth asked, "in killing the engines by blocking the exhaust and intake ports?  Or are they too well defended?
"Could we perhaps extinguish the boilers by chucking low-level ice spells down the exhausts?  There are a lot of them, but restarting the boilers from cold would take them a long time, say around 30 minutes, assuming they were all restarted at once.  Choking them with water or sand would probably be fatal.
"And what do you suppose powers its defences?  Magic, gunpowder or steam?  If the whole thing is steam-driven we could conceivably leave it defenceless and immobile..."

[Lisky]

Nadia chortled at the questions, "Well, if i had a set of blue-prints to it, i could answer your questions with a firmer degree of certainty.  I'm just telling you what i can see poking through it's armored hulk, and making best guess analysis.  That thing is bristling with guns, designed to protect it from air, so, getting on top, and dropping a couple of water-jet spells would tricky at best, suicidal at worst.  Now... they're pretty obviously using steam driven machinery, but we'll need to get closer for some proper observation that will tell us a little more about how it was built, and how to destroy it.  As civilians, you really don't have any obligations to stay here, but the help would be greatly appreciated."

Renard gave a shrug, "I think killing then engines could work in the short run. The mountings for the larger cannons don't have all that sharp of a turning angle, maybe 60 degrees.  If we immobilize them, then it's a simple matter of letting someone with larger, longer-ranged guns to smash it to pieces from the safety of being outside of that battle-crabs reach." 

[Tipod]

Blackboard Prison

No doubt about it: this was exactly the sort of thing a Creature-controlled government would build. Just what you needed to show off to the peons, to tell their kids, 'hey, look at all the pretty things that mommy and daddy can't give you. But your school has everything you want. Don't you love school? Love school?'

The more Bart thought about it, the angrier he got. It felt so phony; he'd bet dollars to donuts that not a single adult in this building gave a rat's ass about any of those kids beyond which ones they could shove off to the front line and which ones could put a ship together out of nuts, bolts and scraps. Fucking assholes.

It made him so mad that he barely noticed his right arm flaring up, ready to burn the whole school down... But that wouldn't do anything. This stupid place was shielded against every vandalizing technique in the book. All he could do was step up, take a deep breath, and open that front door. And doubtlessly blow a gasket at what lied beyond it.

[Tapewolf]

Kesslen

Seth hesitated.  Had the reward for the earthquake bounty been worth a few zeroes more, large enough to barter for his mother's soul, he would certainly have cut and run.  As it happened it was about the size of a smallish consultancy job, nice to have but hardly the opportunity of a lifetime.  The bike, however... that was not something he was eager to lose and it wasn't clear that the insurance would cover enemy action.

He glanced at the Being, the Demons, the town where his bike was and the oncoming metal monstrosity.  He gulped.

"I have family obligations which would not be well served by dying," he said.  "So I don't particularly want to be on the front line if I can avoid it. However, if I can help in some other way, I will try."

[Inumo]

That Was Easy

The moment of surprise on impact of his spear shaft on shield halted him just long enough for the arms master to start her jump. With a little buffet of his own, he leaped underneath her in a dive roll, casting an ice spell to freeze the ring with a clear sheet of ice on the floor. Dropping a hand down, he turned to face the other direction, then pushed off the ring edge, his spear aimed high. At the same time, flipped his knife around, careful to keep it out of his sparring partner's line of sight.

[Arroyo Milori]

My Spidey Senses are Tingling!

This odd feeling he got from something afar had peak his interests for a bit. But he also felt like he shouldn't leave to investigate it, for two reasons: Lucy and that this weak magic signature could be used as a trap. He knew that it was common to use something with a weak energy signature as bait to lure out those in hiding. Arroyo was guilty of using this trick once.

"This might kill me but I just gotta know..." If it is a trap, he at least hopes one of the brothers will follow him due to their mistrust with Arroyo, hoping that the mechanical scorpion can pick up his own magic signature. He calmly walked towards the weak signal to investigate.

Upon reaching the signal's source he looked down at the wand. He started to inspect the object without touching it, unsure if he should pick it up or not.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Tunnel rats (wolves) R us


Paige grinned, well like the wolf she was as the bug rounded the corner and spotted her. Using a pair of tentacles to plug her ears, the succubus fired off the shotgun, going for the center of mass. She could have taken the time to aim for it's head but as air-headed as most took the Blonde wolfess, Paige was a combat veteran and preferred a certain kill under these conditions...And besides there was no one to show off to.

Paige cocked the leaver action again just in case she needed a second shot.

[SquirrelWizard]

Stephan stretched, "Good... I hope we arrive there soon, this trip has felt like it has taken months."

"What kind of thing should I expect as a new arrival from the people at SAIA?"

[Kafzeil]

I'm only happy when it rains...

Lucy wrapped the girl up with her coat. More and more she considered just grabbing the girl and running for the boat. Maybe it was she felt a connection to her, maybe she just didn't trust the Aelisian government.Maybe it was the thought she'd be programmed to hate her. That Lucy would be forgotten or worse, somehow blamed for this tragedy. It wouldn't have surprised her.

"One of these days that tendency to blame magic's going to bite them in the ass."She mused aloud, going to the window. Bunch of hypocrites.

Something didn't fit. An entire town save one orphanage vanished into thin air and not a single sign of a struggle. Not a single body or drop of blood. Was this place even on a map? Even from here it looked like this place empty. Once the brothers came to question the girl, she'd conduct her own investigation.

She smiled to herself as she noticed the storm front. "Finally...I really need this..." She sighed. A nice good rainfall would hopefully cheer her up.

Turning back the cabin, she began to poke around, looking for anything unusual. Some kind of clue as to what happened.

[AmberCross]

If you're fighting with the sword of Damocles... don't be surprised when your opponent cuts the thread.

Ice had always been easier to manage than fire for Chris and finished freezing the joint of the leg fairly quickly without too much effort (comparitively) and paused for a moment, catching his breath. It was then he noticed the ropes that had dropped down while he wasn't paying attention. They couldn't have been there too long or the insectis would already have reached him, but it hadn't JUST happened either. Which meant that he'd be expecting company at any moment and considering how long it took him to heat up the leg the first time, it was highly unlikely that he'd have the time to send it through another heat-freeze cycle, not that he really had the energy to do much more of that anyway. He'd have to leave it at what he'd already done and deal with this new threat.

Still a small, easily missed, maneuverable ferret, Chris didn't have any trouble skittering up the side of the hulking monstrosity to see where several insectis had begun descent down the ropes. If ice magic came easily to Chris, air magic was instinctive and it was a simple matter to dance past the ropes holding them up and slice through them with a small blade of sharpened air. Chris watched the insectis fall with a small measure of satisfaction before making himself scarce in case any more sharpshooters tried to get any ideas. He couldn't figure out if he wanted the freefallers to die. On the one hand he never really liked options so final as killing, but on the other hand... they WERE invaders. Besides... they were insectis and had a better chance to survive than say, a being. If they couldn't survive a fall like this, they probably didn't deserve to.

[Noone]

Kyirri rushed towards the back car, not taking time to ponder his situation. His movement was quick, but entirely calm.

He made a quick glance around the cargo car, trying to see if he could spot any of two things, entry and exit points, or weapons. He wasn't giving as much detail to his observations as he normally would, but time was of premium importance in this situation.

[Chairtastic]

Elevators and airships.

Haien kept his tongue until they were on board.  Kyaka was starting to get nervous, since the ram hadn't called him out on the use of vulgarity, which he'd normally have received a firm twist of the ear for.  When they entered into the compartment, the demon continued to say nothing, and Kyaka continued to grow worried.

Haien inspected his fellow travelers, and settled down for a long wait; waiting until there was some indication the ship was moving to pass along a little note to his bodyguard which simply said 'Shut up and wait.'  There wasn't much else which could be done presently.  Just wait.

[VAE]

A fashion acessory I think not

For Avram, the situation started getting thick....
$#@#! Looks like someone whacked the old coot ...but i do need to leave the bloody park... i know! The bastard there will likely be distracted enough by looting to not notice... not like it's the first time ... but be careful, he took him down rather fast...
A plan began to brew within the cat's head.... he'd silently walk around and approach the gate from about 100 degree angle compared to the approach of the badger... this wouldn't waste much time compared  to a complete walkaround, and would probably allow him to catch a sight of whoever was it that took him down, hopefully busy with taking care of the badger's wallet... and if it was feasible, take him down as quickly as possible...

Somewhat inclined forwards to balance better and not to show such a tall silhouette, the cat began to criss-cross among the park's trees.

[techmaster-glitch]

Ruined orphanage and ghost town

   "...Hey, Gezz?"
   "Yeah, Gaak?"
   The brothers Vaponci had finished doing their routine check on the Storm Scorp. Their water tank was more empty than full, but should still last them awhile. There were only a few supplies left to pack...and the graves of the corpses from the orphanage had been finished.
   Gaakronacht stood by, leaning on the Scorp with a troubled expression on his face.
   "Have you noticed how there is no sign of anyone else being here? This town is empty. No bodies. Nothing except the...." Gaakronacht took a beath, shaking his head. "...the kids in the fire. Nothing else."
   Gezzemoocht leaned back against the Scorp himself, looking in the direction that she-Creature they fought earlier had disappeared off to.
   "Isn't it obvious? Where there's Creatures, there's Magic. Where there's Magic, bad things happen, and they happen in ways we can never understand."
   The elder brother sighed, stepping forward. "You're okay with the last of the things here, Gaak?"
   "Yup."
   "Alright. I'm going to try and talk to that girl now, find out what happened here. After that, we'll have a decent-as-it's-gonna-get report for the garrison and the Wing Clippers."
   "Got it."
   Gezzemocht started walking towards the building Lucy had taken shelter in.
   "Hey, Gezz?"
   Gezzemocht turned back to his brother. Gaak looked down to the ground.
   "...I'm sorry about earlier. We just gotta keep that girl safe, you know? And Lucy...I probably shouldn't have said what I did, but..." He scratches the back of his neck.
   Gezz nods. "I know. She's not one of us anymore. But she -was-, once, so while caution is called for, she still deserves to be treated well."
   The elder brother kept walking to the building Lucy and the girl were in. He knocked on the doorframe to announce his presence, and walked in.
   "Hey there, Lucy. I hope the girl can talk now, because we've got to go. That Creature is still on the loose, and time is not on our side."
   Gezz took off his helmet, and put on a soft smile, slowly approaching the girl and kneeling down to her. He spoke in a gentle, soothing voice for the girl.
   "Hi there little one...how are you doing? The scary wings are gone, you're safe now..." He held out his metal cap with a smile. "Want to hold my helmet? It's a real soldier's helmet. I'm here to keep you safe." Then, if the girl doesn't resist, he reaches out to rub her shoulder, and then draws her into a comforting embrace.

[Sunblink]

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen...
The train was cold, dark, and she had a splitting headache that kept growing and growing as she tried to lose herself in the noise and madness.

Dark worked well for her. However, being chained and forced to kowtow before the ephemeral whims of her Insectis overseers sucked the magic out of what should have been a brief return to normalcy. She had escaped mafia thugs hellbent on vengeance, clawed her way out of the remains of her home, and yet for some inconceivable reason chains constructed by inferior creatures suppressed the power that was her birthright. The shadows were quiet. Their sultry siren's call was a faraway murmur, barely tantalizing the dormant powers locked, bolted, and smothered in her chest. Pondering it only gave birth to an animalistic aggression that boiled in her stomach and rose.

The door opened. One of her captors was standing there, framed in a window of violating light – Keaton's head moved with the rest of the inmates', but while their faces reflected varying degrees of fury, her lips curled with a smug sense of satisfaction she did not actually feel.

She should have been furious, but there was entertainment to be found even in incarceration. During her imprisonment, Keaton exploited every button that could possibly be pushed, delighted in the agitation that radiated in delicious, palpable waves off of her victims, and retaliated against her guards' unreasonable demands. It could not be said that solitary confinement wasn't treating Keaton well; the ample emotions transmitted by her cellmates and guardians certainly kept her fed and they certainly kept her from dying of boredom.

Sunlight struck her eyes in a blinding burst. Keaton blinked against the light, suppressed the urge to snarl and break the locomotion between her and the prisoners in front of her. She glanced briefly over her shoulder, catching a glimpse at the Insectis guard that pushed the train door shut, then squared her gaze back on the path ahead, lost amongst moving shoulders and towering Creature frames. She recognized at least several species that the Jyraneth had dismissed as being slow-minded throwbacks and wondered what they had done to be locked in this hellhole - and what had compromised them in the first place. Whatever embarrassing incident that resulted in her finally being handcuffed and thrown in a police wagon had vanished completely from her memory, so at least she couldn't be blamed for hypocrisy. (Water under the bridge, but if someone had fucked her over, she'd certainly be paying them a visit once she figured out how to pick the locks to her new cell.) The indignation faded, and instead she focused on evaluating her surroundings, struggling to catch some glimpse of the landscape between the mess of moving bodies. It was almost like being caged in the train all over again; the expanse of the skies overhead was nothing more than an optical illusion that brokenly promised freedom, but only dangled it like a carrot before her nose. She grasped and floundered for it, would have pulverized every single man in her way for it, but could only stifle her protests and pretend she was another figure among so many, just another insignificant checkmark on a laundry list of offenders.

There, but unreachable. Keaton felt her hands clench; again the rage blistered, but it barely prickled against her innards. It was just the swan song of her dignity. She was another inferior captive.

She could never mistake her surroundings as being tranquil, never - the drop-off point was a relentless assault against her senses, blatantly offensive in an incomprehensible orgy of noise and sights. She lost everything in a mess of and had to always stay alert, or she'd eventually feel her thoughts peter off into a quiet murmur against the deafening roar of machinery or her eyes would lose the meager focus she had found against the back of one of the Mythos in front of her. The sign of her liberation that came screaming from the sky was just another voice to the rabble.

Until it became something she couldn't ignore. The infernal lilting of a whistle, rising in pitch until her poor ears quaked, and she would have plugged them if her hands weren't restrained. Her muzzle creased and her lips curled back in an impotent, silent snarl, head ringing with a million unsaid obscenities that would never reach conception, not in the instantaneous flash of violence that resonated from on high. The metal war machine's head shrieked like an animal twisting through the throes of excruciating pain. Her blood turned cold, she knew what this meant, and she was trapped in the middle of what would become pure pandemonium.

In a rush of fire and mangled metal, the war machine's head exploded. The noise was unbearable.

She would escape, come hell or high water.

The metal war machine's head shrieked – and in a burst of flame and ichor, exploded, throwing a splash of light over the crowd. Pieces of metal cartwheeled out from the buckling wreckage. A dismayed cry rose up from the flock, noise upon noise upon more noise. Even in the midst of it, she could hear the infernal lilting of a whistle, rising beyond what her poor ears could tolerate, and nearly shrieked in frustration, only for her to be lost in a tumble of limbs frantically pushing forward. Keaton let out a scream and nearly fell to her feet, only managing to find purchase against an Insectis's back so she could narrowly avoid being caught in the stampede. A hard, muscled chest impacted her back, ejecting the air from her lungs.

Nerves that had already been burning against her brain erupted into sparking, blue flame. Letting out an incoherent scream, she fell forward. She fought and flailed against the inexorable pull of gravity all the way. To fall was to die. Thousands of prisoners would crush her in their frantic dash for escape. Keaton's gaze shot upright, catching a furtive glimpse of the flapping of Dragon's wings before they vanished in a tangle of eldritch energy and smoke, and even as dread filled every inch of her – a Dragon, fuck, it's happening again – she lunged for freedom. Her hands wrapped around an Insectis's antennae. She pulled and ignored his squalling, using the frail strand of chitin to find her purchase against the ground.

She shouldn't have noticed the sound of her shackles splintering – the intricate powers spellbinding her magic – in that clusterfuck, but she felt the rush of power.

She felt the ecstasy and the satisfaction. She saw the lightning bleed from her shackles, and with that, her power slowly returned.

A wall of smoke swept over the crowd, eclipsing the violating rays of the sun. That familiar, cold embrace of darkness consumed everything, slipping between moving people and reducing a thousand panicked faces to distant blurs. She felt it envelop her, and she felt the power that had been crammed deep inside her chest rise, rushing and thundering in her ears over the palpitations of her heart. Keaton drew her hand back, clutching her fist and feeling the energy gather there. Shadows converged upon the power collecting in her palm, spreading betwixt her fingers in a tattered web of jagged lines and dark swirls, an abstract and nonsensical splash against the world's bitterly real backdrop.

Darkness moved among darkness. She flung the fistful of shadows at the cluster of silhouettes nearest to her, watching the darkness she had gathered unfold into a blotched web and open. It was a simple blast, meant to knock her fellow prisoners over like bowling pins and disorient anyone who could possibly think of interfering. With the fools scattered and confused, she could find her opportunity and force her way through.

And if nothing else worked, she would hack her way through them.

She had to find her weapon, which had been confiscated not long after her arrest, but her first priority was escape.

Freedom.

The savage races would learn what it meant to cross a Jyraneth noble when she started picking them off one by one. If the overseer hadn't realized the consequences by now, he'd surely be cursing his misfortune when she was breathing down his neck.

[Lisky]

School of Scoundrels  

The demon was greeted with a high abroad desk.   Some type of official was standing in uniformed business suit.  She was a mythos of some kind,  she looked mostly like a poodle, save for the quartet of tentacles running down her back and out additional sleeves in the jacket.  She looked strict, naturally, however, as the demon's presence caught her attention, she went from strict to clearly annoyed.   She glared at the demon and replied, "You're new here.  Clearly not an officer, so, just what do –you- want?"  


Arguing at the Edge of the Storm

Nadia spoke up, "Well the help would be nice, but as you said, we're not required to do anything about the situation... that said, if we offered salvage rights, or at least, partial salvage rights could that help?  We're going to need all the muscle we can get, right here and now, If we're going to stand any chance of slowing it down until the military forces get here."

A series of shrieks, and contrails of smoke erupt from the hulking monster as  a rocket battery fires a volley.  The rockets streaked overhead, looking like they were fired both high and far.

Renard added , "We should stay low at this point.  If they're opening up, they may turn a whee bit indiscriminant, and I'd rather not be on the receiving end of one of those volleys ."


... Or Was It?

Flaring her wings, the demoness, quickly changed the angle of her fall, She grasped a toe just under the spear point, then flicked her wings that rotated her, while she still maintained  a grasp on the spear.   when she was starting to feel torque in her ankles, she flapped her wings, pushing her more upright, towards the top of the shaft, then pulled her wings in tight to minimize drag.  She put her entire body-weight on the spearshaft, while falling towards Kathostral.  She brought her sword down in a vicious slash, aimed at the bull's arm.  She snarled at him, "come on, boy.  Is that all you got? "


It Feels Like We've Been In This Empty Village for Months

To Arroyo, the wand itself looked to be a carved ivory shaft, perhaps 2 feet long.  It was thin, designed to rest easily in the user's hand.  On one end, a narrow point that looked to be needle sharp, on the other, the wand was adorn with a small, smoky, spherical stone.  It was semi-transparent, and looked to be some type of quartz mixture.   It gave off a heavy magical aura.  A mark spell was easy to identify, the others were weaved behind some type of hidden layer, and their actual effects were difficult to make out

In the little hut, Lucy would note that everything was in perfect working order.  As if, the owner, after finishing the morning chores, decided to just leave.  Every building in the village, save for one, would all show the same signs.  There was a single house, that had a single bloody paw-print stuck to it's wall.

The small child seemed timid, it was clear she trusted Lucy more than the brothers.  When one lowered his helmet, she eeked, and hid behind the undead feline.  "Noooo... they're like the bad men! They're the bad men!"  She shrieked at the brothers and tried to put as much space between them and her as possible, keeping Lucy in the middle.


Arrival  

Stephan's Train started breaking.  Ed checked with the staff, then out the window.  "It looks like we've made it to the border. Don't be too surprised if they're rather harsh with the questioning.  Voethfellians tend to be a untrusting of outsiders.  Even if it's just a simple check, be polite... they're demons, and if you give them an excuse to, they will hurt you... badly.  As for SAIA, you'll have some professors give evaluations, and you'll be given some options of classes to take, along with recommendations based on your apparent skill sets."

Ed got up, and started leading Stephan towards the exit of the train-car.  He could clearly see the pair of demons waiting outside.  Canine dobermans spouting impressive wings, and with fur of inversed colors relative to each other,  of red and yellow.  They looked pissed as they began their grilling of the passengers in front of Stephan.


And They're Free.... Free Falling.  

The dull thuds, as the pair of soldiers slamming into the ground below, went utterly unheard.  Their bodies mangled and practically exploded on impact from the sheer force of the fall.  Above, more chittering, and the ropes were quickly raised.  It seemed like there was a fair amount of confusion as to what was happening.  Perhaps the bugs had called for help, or were looking for a superior officer.  Chris was left alone for the time being, as the ropes were quickly yanked up, minus the previous occupants.


Dial S, for Shafted!

Avram would not be greeted with the body of the badger, but rather that of a winged figure, face down, in the gutter.  It was difficult to make out features, but clearly not the old coot.  There were shouts, a commotion of some kind.   From the looks of things, along with the dark silhouettes in the sky it was clear that some type of department was getting involved.  Looks like there was yet another blow for creature/being relations


One of These Bags is Not Like the Other

As Kyirri searched through the bags, he'd notice something that looked like a small wooden crate,  an ornate latch, and it's relative size suggested something special inside.  A quick examination revealed a pair of dueling revolvers.  Small caliber, etched with precious metal.  Grips formed from some large, glossy, white material.  Each pistol had 6 bullets in the case.  They were small, looked like they were meant more stinging than for killing, however, as Kyirri was well aware, looks can always be deceiving.

There were less voices, and more grunting from the car in front.  Kyirri could also see a door to the rear of the baggage car as well.  Something seemed t o pounding on that from the outside


Tunnel Wolf

As the shot echoed through the chamber, Paige's gun kicked like a mule.  The heavy, creature-centric weapon fired with nearly twice the force of a standard shotgun, the pellets cutting the insectis in half as they smashed the crunchy exoskeleton of the bug , parted ways with the fleshy interior, and eviscerated the thing on their way out.  The stench was choking, and nauseating .  The only thoughts seemed to be coming from up above.  Faint, dull sparks of life... too far at this point to tell what they were, however, she could tell they were there.


Going Back to Your Roots

Haien and his companion were left relatively undisturbed.  The pair of demon lovers appeared to be rather focused on eachother, and it was a small wonder they weren't on top one-another the moment the dull pull of acceleration hit them.  "Isn't exciting?" the female qupped first,  "Getting to ride one of these floating luxury yachts?"   The male seemed more focused on... other things.  His eyes clearly focused a foot lower than hers.  And while she bubbled, he seemed to wander in thought.

The airship continued on it's course, and it was only a matter of time before they arrived, then took gryphon carts for the final leg of the journey.


Back in Black

Through the smoke and haze, Keaton would see a bright red pair of wings heading towards the train station, sticking from the usual due to their sharp contrast.  Other sets of wings as well, though the red ones were the most obvious. Voices were dulling and the crowds thinning.  There seemed to be more creatures than she'd noticed before.  More than half of those she'd bee n cooped up with had been at least partial beings.  She would also note that there were several individuals she knew weren't herded on the train.  Too well dressed, their bodies and postures spoke too much confidence in the current pandemonium.

Something sparkly caught her attention.  Off to the jackal's right a dull flicker in the choking cloud.  Something silvery, was catching the sun.  Those large red wings seemed to be attached to it, along with a pair of horns that could only belong to one race.  She could see small flickers of light as he proceeded to shatter manacles of prisoners escaping.  He himself wore a fine sleeveless tunic, and pants that clearly made him not a prisoner.

To her left she could see several other creatures carrying weapons and heading back the way she'd come.

[Inumo]

Should I Be Scared Right About Now?

As the demoness started dropping down onto the spear, Kath gave it a sharp push directly sideways, magnified with a blast spell. At the same time, he raised his knife and slashed upwards, a strike that would have gored her had this not been a spar. Then, with another blast, he pushed in the opposite direction of the now-sliding spear, hopefully avoiding too major a wound. When he hit the wall, he shifted his knife from one hand to the other and pushed off towards a point 90 degrees from his partner.

[Tapewolf]

Kesslen plain

Sethir looked at the ground for a moment and then at the others.  "Yes, we'd better find some kind of cover.
"As for your proposal... that thing is going to be State property the moment it's safe.  It will need to be analysed to protect against further attacks, assuming we manage to stop it at all.  Then again, the State may compensate for it...

"Look, I'm not a greedy man.  I just want enough to try and buy back my mother's soul, or at least get her pardoned.  If I can do that... then it might be worth the risk.

"...I'll try and help you if I can."

[Paladin Sheppard]

This be my tunnel now!

Seeing that a followup shot was not needed Paige lowered the lever-action,  and wrinkled her nose. "Gods I forgot how much these things stink when they died." Kicking the largest part of the remaining corpse, the Succubus touched the stone at her throat. "Baseel, the runner was dealt with. Where do you need my talents?"

As she finished she made her way to the nearest trapdoor.