Still Not Safe #3 [M&M 2nd edition]

[Cubey]

(Previous page is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126419&page=50). The OOC thread is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124018).)

Lorne's PSA adjusts itself and gains temporary abilities - you can now muddle and confuse human minds via subtle manipulation of their nervous systems, as well as create barriers because... of an ability copied off Emi? You're not sure.

One way or the other, it's Confuse 2 and Create Object 2.

Your attack, unfortunately, misses. Despite the clumsy, distorted image of your opponent (whose growths are fleshy and cancerous rather than plant-like, sorry if I didn't make it clear), it makes a surprisingly fast dodger - one that can fly for some unidentified reason, and does it very well. I keep saying "it", as you can't be sure if the Shifter is male or female, or a sexless mockery of a human.
Your analysis reveals that the opponent's whole body is strengthened enough to be used as a weapon, and tough enough to take a beating. You're not sure what the mechanism for flight is though. One way or the other, the Shifter's abilities are straightforward, balanced and combat-oriented.

Ben's blast throws his enemy off-balance - he tries to use the blade-arms, to block the fiery attack, but still staggers (mostly because it's fire). He is still able to fight, but singed and on the defensive. 1 injury + stun.

While Lorne's assault did not hit, it managed to distract the enemy - and then, Andy strikes. His mighty kick connects square-on, sending the Shifter flying through the air, and then collapsing on the ground many yards later. It tries to stand back up, but with major difficulties. Stun + stagger.

Matilda seems more focused on her two opponents than what is happening around her. She pulls out another knife and tries to stab one of them, but miscalculates and misses as the robe-clad figure drifts away.

Amanda, on the other hand, managed to reach Elizabeth. She gently aims her sword at the other girl's unmoving body - and she starts to move, without fanfare or any special effects.
"Ah... Eliza... I'm so glad!" It seems Amanda herself wasn't sure if her teammate was alright or not, until now that is.

Wordlessly, Usagi leaps into the air and strikes at one of the twin Ascenders with her heavy hammer - the blow beats the enemy an inch into the ground, but leaves almost no visible damage.
"Chance!" And then, Akiho uses this opportunity to leap forward, towards the same opponent.
"Whirling assault!" She starts spinning, her short Ninja-like swords cutting into the opponent over and over. Once she stops, the Shifter's toga is ripped in many places, and the Shifter him- or herself is lying on the ground, lifelessly (but with no pools or splashes of blood). How does the other, trapped Shifter react? An agonizing, pained scream, followed by efforts to break the trap and rapid chanting of "No, no, no! NO!"
Needless to say, Akiho herself looks quite freaked out at what she has done, too.

Another scream joins into the cacophony.
"No! Please stop!" These words come from as of now silent Kazuma, as more spikes emerge from his blackened, shadowy PSA - this time heading for the group of fourteen robe-clad Shifters, most of whom were immobilized by Emi's snare earlier. The sharpened tendril-like instruments of death impale and skewer all but two of the Ascenders, blood soaking their robes.

"Leave it to me." Akira sounds serious. Due to his position he was able to booster-fly his way towards the scythe-armed man that Ben fought with. In flight, he dematerialises his chaingun and creates another weapon - a simple sword, which he uses to slash at the Ascender. This does not stop his momentum, as he continues to move - but rather than increasing distance like Ben did, he jumps over the opponent and smacks him again.
Unfortunately, the hits leave only minor damage. It might be because Akira used the flat side of his weapon, rather than the edge.

What happens next - a counterattack by the Ascenders. The ten that James caused to run in panic change their minds - they turn back, ready to fight once again. As for the duo that Matilda is fighting, they create long, glowing ribbons out of thin air, and use them to slice her.

"Aargh!" One of them connects, which is followed by the thin weapon's smack that sends her to her knees!

Similarly, five other Shifters (there's not a lot of robe-clad basic "footsoldiers" left, at least from those that are still able to fight) create white glowing ribbons as well - but rather than using them in melee, they shape them into discs or circles, and send them flying towards their targets. Two of them target Ben, and the other two Cat - and one of each attacks manages to connect! (Toughness DC: 20)


Suddenly...
The SE makes its move. It emits another longing noise, and sends all of its tentacles forward in your direction. Some of the tentacles split into two or more, quickly mulitplying into uncountable numbers - laws of physics be damned. Due to their incredible length and quantity, the tentacles soon try to cover pretty much the whole battlefield, trying to grab everything on it.

And how do the tentacles grab things, exactly? They're about as thick as a human torso, which is fitting as what looks like roughly-defined human torsos cover their surfaces. The torsos are headless, but possess crude arms that try to grab you in mockery of an embrace.
(Snare, reflex DC 25 to avoid the area attack, then reflex DC 25/18 on a passed save to avoid the snare. Yes, I know it's annoying to roll twice for the same thing.)

"What... what the!" Sara just returned to consciousness, only to find herself held by the tentacles. Her fate is shared by many others - all three active members of the American team are grabbed, and so are Akiho, Usagi, Takeshi and Kazuma - but not Akira. On the other hand, the SE tried to grab the Thoughts of Ascension too: the growth-covered one, the elderly Asian woman and the scythe-armed man are captured, and so are all robe-clad Shifters, AND all currently unconscious combatants. Only the huge armor-clad figure and one of the one-armed, one-legged "twin" Shifters (due to being behind a barrier, courtesy of Emi) are not ensnared by the tentacles' grabs.
And to make matters worse, the toga-clad "twin" violently punches a hole in Emi's barrier large enough to move through, while the armored Shifter heads straight for... Frank.

Frank Symes was trying to use the chaos as an opportunity to get away - into his MSAS, perhaps. And now he finds himself the target of an armored fist's punch.

But the punch does not connect, because Frank was not alone. Escorting him was Laura, who positioned herself between the two.
"That... didn't hurt..." You can hear her struggled voice as she tries to catch her breath, over the communicator.

And after that, the Ascender has to jump back, as four cable-connected spears shoot in his(?) direction. They did not come from any MSAS though (although you can see the troopers charging in your direction in the distance - if you have time to do so, at least, and it will be a while before they get here anyway), but from a different thing altogether.

The one who shot the spears is humanoid, even if only very roughly, but obviously nonhuman - unless SECT found humans who are three meters tall.

Visual aid (although the figure is steel-colored rather than orange, and wields a gigantic version of a Longinus gun. The launcher on its shoulder is still there):
http://mahq.net/mecha/votoms/rootsofambition/b-atm-03-dt-b.jpg

Your turn to act now.
(Remaining opponents:
17 robe-clad Shifters + 1 immobilized
5 various other Shifters
SE)

[Haven]

Lorne desperately maneuvers to avoid the tentacles. Right, that's an excellent candidate for most disturbing thing ever.

He quickly appraises his options. Ben and Andy seem to have those two targets well in hand, and though the SE is the more looming threat...The adaptation I've received suggests the foe that attacked Frank is particularly vulnerable to disruption of the nervous system. Therefore, I am most suited to taking him out.

With that, the segments on his arms flare out and begin to gather electromagnetic energy. While the potential concentrates in a sphere between his hands, he analyzes the armored Shifter to try to gather more information on this possibility, as well as watching his back to make sure the SE doesn't get the drop on him. Swiftly, he launches an orb of electricity aimed directly at the armored Shifter.

Analyzing the guy that attacked Frank, and using Nemesis on the SE. Full-round action to use Ball Lightning.

Attack roll: [roll0] (I'm not sure about the exact geography of the battle, but -2 to that for every 150 feet away that he is. If it hits, DC 18 Fortitude save vs. Stun and DC 18 Will save vs. Paralyze. If not, well, there's always Homing.)

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Defense: 18
Damage Conditions: Unharmed

Toughness (DC20): [roll0]
Result: Bruised 1, which disappears immediately upon my turn due to Regeneration (Bruised 3).
Reflex (DC25): [roll1]
Reflex (DC18 if failed on previous save): [roll2]

Will be editing in the extra rolls via Invisible Castle as well as the rest of the post shortly.

Ben grunted as the ribbon attack thwanged off of his armor, leaving a small depression in the "metal". After a moment, the metal seemed to glow red-hot and reform itself, leaving no evidence that it had been damaged. However, Ben had more pressing things to deal with by that point. He flung himself to the side and up into the air, twisting into all manner of nearly impossible acrobatic shapes in order to avoid the rainfall of grasping tentacles aimed at them all. He swooped and dove, letting the tentacles twist in upon and knot themselves up trying to get at him.

Twisting his head to look out for the others, Ben noticed that a good many of his allies had been snared and nearly all of them were in some sort of trouble. Teeth clenched together in his helmet, Ben's first impulse was to come to Laura and Frank's aid, but Lorne seemed to have things under control. As soon as Laura caught her breath she'd be able to get Frank to safety. If he attacked the SE he might be able to get it to focus on him, but then it might also let go off all of the Ascenders it had grabbed as well as his friends. It didn't matter. Ben had to take a shot at the SE while it was distracted. He couldn't let it keep a hold on the other shifter teams or it might find some way to kill them.

Ben held his hand out to his side and clasped a spear of flame that suddenly appeared out of thin-air. The flames wrapped around his form as he dropped like a meteor toward the SE's "head". Giving himself a burst of flight speed, he rocketed into the horror, stabbing with all his might. "LET GO OF THEM!" he snarled.

Power Attacking for Full. Strike 15 (Penetrating 10 - DC30 Toughness Save): 1d20+5=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2482204/) +2 from the Charge that I forgot to add: 22

[Tengu_temp]

Emi barely registers the fact that more of her allies get wounded, that more of the cultists get brutally killed, that Frank just avoided messy death and whatever the hell is happening with Kazuma - just enough for all those things to further shake her confidence. What she concentrates on most is avoiding the tentacles with their grabby, creepy arms.
I changed my mind! This is worse than that giant eyeball!
She manages to get out of the way, but some of the others aren't so lucky. Emi tries not to think what the disturbing whale is going to do with the people it grabbed - whatever it is, she's not going to let that happen.
"Leave my friends alone!" She creates a large, serrated crystal disk, and with a telekinetic push sends it spinning towards the tentacle that's holding Sara. With any luck, the saw might cut off some other tentacles too.

Autofire blast 10, Power Attack 5 + All-Out Attack 5: [roll0]
Rerolled with HP, got 12 for 22 total. Still not so good.

[Matar]

Todd grunts as he's caught by the fleshy mass of tentacles. However, they fail to contain his limitless youthful passion!

"You think you can hold me? I am the tentacle god!"

With that he easily rips himself free from the SE, tearing the long tentacle out from it's body and jumping off of while it was falling to the ground. He attempts to land right on top of the main body of the SE, preparing himself to unleash a massive blow on top of it.

[Cubey]

Lorne's ball lightning hits its target, but the Shifter just shrugs it off. His attention seems to be given to Frank and Laura fully, without any division - did he even notice that you attacked him?

Ben strikes the SE right above its grotesque mouth, and strikes deep to that. The spear leaves behind a wound that immediately starts bleeding some opaque substance that, when comes into contact with air, crystallizes and cracks almost instantly. The SE starts turning belly-side up, but it emits another cry as proof it is not dead yet. There's also the fact that the Entity's most unusual tentacles do not release their embrace on anyone.
(Wounded + Stunned)

Emi's disc cuts into the tentacle, but the grab-happy torsos that make up most of it are tougher than you'd expect, and you did not manage to free Sara.
"You'll pay for it once I break free! Damn tentacle alien!" The girl struggles, to no effect.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage Condition: Unharmed
Defense: 18

"I said...LET GO!" Ben yelled, stabbing the spear into the entity again at the same place. Fire belched from the wound around the edges of the spear as he tried to drive the weapon deeper.

Power Attacking for 5, Strike 15: [roll0]

[kamikasei]

The Ascenders come at Cat, but the earth itself rises up to thwart them - no - rather, a ring of snow beneath her liquefies and lofts up in a plume of frost and water shielding her. One blow is turned aside by the impossible current, while the other shatters a block of ice that interposes itself, the force of the strike dissipating through it, harmless by the time Cat feels the tremor.

And then before she can react, the SE strikes... Cat soars upward without conscious thought, her awareness catching up with her reflexes and startling her with the realization that her opponents were caught up in it. And looking around, most of her allies too... in fact, the entire battle has suddenly become a question of whether they could survive whatever the SE might be about to do to them.

She doesn't even see Frank. There's simply too much happening at once. Instead she sees the trail of flame as Ben plunges in to strike, and that seems as good an idea as any. It's possible that if the SE lets go the Ascenders will fall on them with renewed fury... but if the SE doesn't let go, then...

She dives.

Freezing Touch on the SE. Charging All-out Power Attack for full. [roll0], +15 toughness drain / damage.

[Cubey]

Catriona's freezing touch has no visible effect on the SE. Not only is it not wounded nor weakened, it seems like an attack of this magnitude will not be able to weaken this powerful enemy's defenses at all.
(Read: immune to drains)

Lorne receives the following because of his Nemesis power:
Immunity to Toughness drains
Evasion x2

As for the Shifter... he is a fighting machine, just like the other Ascenders. But unlike them, his Armor (or rather, what they have for Armor) is not meant for general combat, with all-around good fighting capabilities. This Shifter is a hunter-killer, whose mission is to focus on a singular target and attack in close range until it's dead.

[Fri]

It's just like punching a doll... Before James can continue his pondering, the rest of the cultist appears.

"I have no time for this!" he yells, pulling a score of feather-shaped blades from under his scarf.

But before he can throw it, the SE roars. James looks back, and see a massive tentacle heads toward him.


"Bugger..."

It's too late for dodging, and now he's ensnared by the grotesque tentacle. James flails wildly, moving his arms and legs, headbutting the tentacle, anything to break himself free.

"NO TIME FOR THIS, YOU DAFT PAIN IN THE ARSE!"

[roll0] strength to break free.

[Drascin]

Andy bounces off the enemy Shifter, controlling his inertia as the other man flies away stunned, and then turns to his wounded ally...

...which makes him too distracted to realize the incoming assault fast enough. By the time he turns and tries to guard, the tentacles are already on them, and he gets grabbed without so much as a chance to react. He shakes, but it seems that whatever these grabbing entities are, they have a downright impossibl strength for their frame. Andy roars, impotent, as he tries to shake them off without any luck and has to watch other be attacked... and is forced to watch, unable to help, as the monster grabs most of his friends.

No.

Not. A way. In hell.

They won't let go outwards. So Andy goes inwards. He returns the things' hug with all his terrible strength, growling like an animal as the body creaks... and finally, with a roar that I should probably not reproduce here due to rules against profanity, Andy's arms crush the false body and his inertia throws him forward.

Panting, he gets up. And looks at the situation. This is bad. Everyone's really badly off. Andy starts running to have a better angle, and calculating inwardly about the possibility of shattering the bodies without hurting the others...

[Cubey]

"S... stop!"
"What the hell!"
"Ahh, no!"

These screams and many more can be heard as your friends struggle and try to break free from the tentacles, but they are unsuccessful. Only James and Todd manage to free themselves.

Akira looks around frantically, torn between possible courses of action. But then he makes up his mind - his armor's thrusters burn full power as he charges towards the large Ascender who tried to kill Frank.
"Hyaaah!" He thrusts a sword at him - and at the same time, Frank stabs the enemy Shifter with a knife he produced from who-knows-where.
Unfortunately for them, it was not enough - they barely manage to scratch the powerful opponent. An opponent who counterattacks by trying to smash Frank's head in, which is thwarted by Akira blocking the attempt this time. I mean literally blocking - with his sword, and thus having the Shifter do no damage.

Unfortunately for you, one of the Ascenders, the growth-covered one, managed to break free from the tentacles, but that's all it does. As for the one-armed, one-legged enemy...

"Die, die, die, die DIE!" He (judging by the voice), jumps towards Akiho and starts pummeling her with wild kicks and punches. The girl screams in agony, still conscious but badly battered.

"Activate Sophium Cutters immediately!" An order from the Commander breaks through the cacophony. And strangely enough, his command is responded to.

"I AM ON IT." A loud voice sounds in both your communicators and on the battlefield - its source, the giant robot newcomer. The voice is obviously artificial, sounding like a female version of the Windows synthesiser.

And then, the robot jumps into the air, with grace and speed that you would never suspect such a large bulk of having. While airborne, it rolls and turns to have a better aim at its target - the Shifters trapped by tentacles. Or to be more precise, the tentacles that trap them. The shoulder-mounted launcher that the robot is carrying fires a mesh of thin wires, each accurate enough to cut into the tentacles, but do not harm the grabbed SECT people. This thing's targetting systems must be something special.

The wires are apparently razor-sharp as large pieces of tentacles simply fall down, disattached from the SE. Because of that, Elizabeth and Amanda are free.

(You can act now, and the SE is no longer stunned. If Ben wants to do something else than in the last post, please say so.)

[Tengu_temp]

Damnit! Not only does Emi not manage to cut the tentacles (at least the giant robot helps here in this regard), but also, because she ignored the previously trapped enemy Shifter, Akiho is in huge danger now! It's no time for regrets, however - she needs to save the other girl! Emi materializes a long, crystalline staff in her hands, rushes towards the enemy Shifter and, spinning it above her her, strikes at him ferociously.
"Get away!"
With any luck the attack will push the enemy back at least a couple of feet - which is what she needs.


Strike 10, crits on 18-20, charge + All-Out Attack 5 + Power Attack 5: [roll0]
EDIT: Rerolled with Andy's HP to 31. A crit, yeah!

Gonna take an extra action with Extra Effort after that.

After the attack, Emi raises the staff and it disappears into floating green and blue motes - they don't dissipate, however, and instead reform into another bubble-like barrier, with both her and the wounded and grabbed Akiho inside. The only way for someone else to get inside is to cut through the tentacle.

[Cubey]

With a loud thwack, Emi sends the enemy plummeting down to the ground. He's not getting up.

"Emi-chan!" Akiho noticed the beating has stopped, and then realized who was her savior. She looks relieved, even though she's still grabbed by the tentacle.

[Fri]

"Right!" James lands half kneeling, with one arm in front of him and red scarf flutters behind.

Like his sensei said, a martial artist should be quick thinking, so since Emi had taken care of Akiho, James straighten up and jumps. "Shattering!"

He then sommersault in the air. "Fowl!"

And finish it by jamming his feet on the big, armored shifter's face. "Kiiick!"

he then bounces off him and lands beside frank and akira. "Akira, get Frank to his armor. It's too dangerous for an unprotected human to be here. Everything will be moot if you die here, right, sir? And for you..."

James put out a stance.

"You'll be fighting me..."

[roll0]+5 for all out attack

[Cubey]

Nobody expected James to act like this - least of all, his target. The Shifter gets hit straight in the face, his huge body sent tumbling back. It's only a few feet, but enough to knock him over. And, if you looked close enough, you could notice cracks forming on the helmet, undoubtedly from the force of the impact.

(Stunned + Bruised/Wounded. Toughness drained!)

[kamikasei]

Damn it! There's too much happening at once - Cat feels sure she should be helping out in a dozen different directions, since she's had the good fortune to go unscathed so far, but she just can't get a clear picture of what's going on. Emi's saved Akiho... and James is helping Frank... for all the others still trapped by the SE, there's only one thing she can do.

So much for observation. Cat bends in midair in to something like a runner's starting crouch, focused on the SE - then surges forward and straightens up, the upward sweep of her arms calling out to the snow around them. As when she attacked the group of robed Ascenders earlier, pillars of ice raise out of the ground - but these ones are sharp-tipped and deadly, and all converge on the belly of the SE.

That's an [roll0] for full on Hailstorm for an autofire blast with improved critical.

-- ahaha, suck on that +20 damage, you pervert hugging whale!

[Cubey]

The pillars strike into the SE's underbelly - but it is surprisingly soft, which reduces the impact. Soft does not mean fragile though, and there is little visible damage, and none of it really matters.

(No wounds, but on the other hand - you discover the SE is immune to critical hits.)

[Haven]

Seeing that James seems to have the large one in hand, Lorne turns his attention to the SE. His segments open up dramatically, resulting in a ball of electricity that's stronger but more difficult to control, and he fires at it.

Analyzing the SE, and using Ball Lightning with Power Attack for 5. If it hits, DC 23 Fortitude versus Paralysis and DC 23 Will versus Stun. [roll0]

[Matar]

Todd takes a quick look around the battle field from on top the SE. This was an... interesting place to be, to say the least. But it was the right one.

Taking a deep breath Todd raises both his hands above his head and proceeds to slam them full force to the top side of the SE. However, he doesn't relent after doing it just once. He keeps on bashing the "skull" of the SE over and over, each time creating a large echoing explosion.

"Who the hell do you think I am punch!"

[roll0] All-Out 5 Power Attack 5 Attack Flurry. Every two points above his defense increase the damage by 1.

[Cubey]

Lorne:
The SE's body seems to have almost no insides to speak of. Its only organs to speak of seem to be located right near the tentacles. What are their functions? You have no idea.

But two things are obvious. One, the SE's structure makes it very difficult to damage it in any significant way. Two, its tentacles are its main method of attacking. In fact, the tentacles' inner structure is more sophisticated than the SE's itself. They seem to have receptors to detect their targets independently of the SE, and their muscles are strong enough to maintain a steely grip - or even worse, to rip someone apart with minimal difficulty. The tentacles seem to be composed of slightly different substance than the main SE, but what importance does it have at the moment, is unknown. But it feels more... volatile.

With that knowledge, you fire a ball of lightning. And since you know where to aim (the organs near tentacles), your attack actually deals results. The Entity seems somewhat muddled by the hit. It hesitates in its actions, as what it has for a nervous system is temporarily overloaded.

(Dazed)

[Cubey]

Todd:
You punch and punch, creating massive holes with each hit. It looks like you're going to take the SE down - but suddenly, its semi-liquid insides crystallize, and the crystal slowly starts to reform itself into the Shifting Entity's previous shape. The end result is the same like if your attacks did nothing at all.

But actually, it's worse than that. Lorne can detect a reaction in this SE's organs - it overcame its system overload and is trying to do something now! You have to act, and better do it quick.

(Everyone receives a Hero Point each.)

[kamikasei]

"Lorne! How do we hurt this thing?" Cat calls over the radio.

Deferring any Extra Effort until, ideally, Lorne can coordinate us.

[Haven]

"The thing is mostly a shell! It has two organs, located where the tentacles meet its body--I marked it with my lightning blast! Cat, Todd, Andy, Ben, Emi--strike there, as hard as you can to disrupt it! James, finish the armored shifter and then join the rest in attacking the SE's weak points! Elizabeth and Amanda, the bulbous shifter is stumbling--attack him from different angles, you can outmaneuver him and put him down! Everyone else--the tentacles are sensitive and possibly independent, so cut them down!"

Making a Master Plan ("hit it hard where it hurts" is the most brilliant plan you've ever heard of, dammit!): [roll0] More like a 26. :3

And then activating it.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"And try not to die!" Ben added to Lorne's plan as he ran up the whale-creature's mass toward where the tentacles met the body. At the last moment he jumped a hundred feet up in the air and threw that fire spear down at the target with all of his might. That way he wouldn't be in the way when the others attacked.

Power Attacking for 5 - Blast 15: [roll0]

[Cubey]

Ben's spear does not even pierce the SE's skin... surface. You manage to hit, but there's no damage at all.

[kamikasei]

"All right!" Cat doesn't follow Lorne's instructions exactly - taking a deep breath and reaching out to feel the flow of liquid within the SE to the organs he identified, she draws a mass of water to her and then sends it lashing out in razor-edged... okay, they're tentacles. She feels no shame.

Using extra effort to get an extra standard action. Spending one hero point to remove the fatigue. Then spending another hero point to get an alternate power off Water Control for Strike + Area + Selective + Autofire - Distracting, using the Ultimate Power variant of Area that allows separate attack rolls (Cubey says he'll roll). Plowing the +3 from Master Plan in to Power Attack, so +13 damage on each of those (before autofire). Targeting those vulnerable points and all active snares on SECT Shifters.

[Fri]

James feels that he's having goosebumps. "Damnit!"

He looks toward the SE. no time to move there.

He forces himself to moves even faster and pulls a score of shimmering feather blades from under his scarf. Then, in what feels like a slow motion, he throws all of them into the designated target.

using extra effort+hero point to remove fatigue for all-out autofire dazzling fowl blades. [roll0]

[Matar]

Using an extra effort to attack again. Using a hero point to remove the fatigue

"Someone get our friends safe already!"

Following Lorne's orders Todd rushes towards the organ.... thing, and hits it with as much force as he can manage. Which is alot. His own body is lifted off the SE and a huge "bang" fills the air.



[roll0] Power Attack 5 All Out Attack 5 Using green might to send it down if at all possible.

[Cubey]

Everyone's attacks were ineffective - the SE doesn't even pay attention to your hits and projectiles, as they bounce off harmlessly. Todd's efforts to bring it down fail as well.

But Cat was being more successful, as her razor sharp ice attacks cut through several tentacles. Because of that, Sara, Matilda and Takeshi are released!

"That's not an experience I want to repeat. Let's free everyone now!" The youngest Shifter may sound eager to beat the crap out of a SE or two, but she seems to have a different priority for the moment.

"Can you disperse this somehow? Act quick!" Takeshi is already sizing up the tentacle that grabbed Akiho, but his efforts may be thwarted by the protective structure around her. This is indeed what he is talking about, and the target of his words is Emi.

[Tengu_temp]

Emi's combined maneuver was rather straining and left her in an need of taking a deep breath - not enough time to join in with the others' attacks, but judging by their results she probably wouldn't have made any difference anyway. At least dispelling the barrier is easy, she doesn't even have to make any gestures to make it disappear.
"There."
Useless bubble! I wanted to protect Akiho, and it only got in the way instead...

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Everyone hit is as hard as you can at the same spot at the same time. Each of us individually might not be able to make it, but all of us together might be able to take it out!" Ben yelled as his hands became engulfed in a flame that quickly spread across the rest of his armored form until he looked like the Human Torch. "Target the area that Lorne marked for us!" he added. He waited for the others to acknowledge, knowing the timing had to be right for them all to attack at once.

Calling for a Combined Attack, as I think was mentioned earlier.

[Fri]

A chill runs through James' vein as he looks toward the towering beast. What a creature... He touches his radio transmitter.

"As much as I hate to say it... It seems that this creature's main body is immune to physical attack. Either we attack the organ using non-physical means, or we can just rip its tentacles one by one to make it a lot more harmless..."

[Cubey]

Unfortunately, it seems not everyone has heard Ben - or maybe they have chosen to ignore him...

"Akira, help me get the girls out!" Takeshi grabs the tentacle that ensnares Akiho and tries to rip it apart in his bare hands - some torsos try grabbing him instead, so he has to abandon his effort before it's successful, lest he be captured too, instead.

"Al.... alright! Akira tries to slice another tentacle, the one that holds Usagi, but he too is unsuccessful.

"Okay. Just give us a sign and we'll strike in unison!" But at least Ben got a confirmation from Elizabeth. Who she means by "we" is unclear - her and Amanda, perhaps? Matilda looks too weakened to effectively attack at the moment.

[Haven]

"It's not immune to physical attacks--Ben managed to hurt it! He's got the right idea now, too, we just need to...

A new tactic is needed...I just need to remember what they call their disruptive attacks. --Right!

"Two teams! Andy and James, when I throw my lightning, strike with Flying Icarus Kick and Stunning Fowl Fist! Cat, Ben, Todd, Emi--the four of you attack together! Rapidly cooling and heating it should make it brittle enough for your kinetic attacks to shatter it! On my signal!"

Lorne waits a few moments until they're in position. "...Now!

He opens up with the lightning.

Yeah, combined attacks for the win. Delaying to initiative 17, then throwing Ball Lightning, power attack for max; the Fortitude save will combine with James' and Andy's if they go with that, and then there will be a separate DC 23 Willpower save vs. Stun.

[roll0]

[kamikasei]

Confusion. Is Ben's action meant to take place after the enemies' turn(s), once we all have our normal positions in initiative back (when Cat can act again)? Is he forgoing the surge he could take via Extra Effort this round, or has he already used it?

Note: this is intended to be for the next round, as Cat's second attack there that broke some snares used Extra Effort.

Anyway, all-out power [roll0]! (Oh yeah, that's the autofire blast. And if that's not a hit, I'll be stealing a hero point from Andy for a reroll please.)

"Right." Cat sounds off her agreement with Ben's plan. While the others line up to launch their attacks she takes the icy spears of her previous attempt and turns them in to globes of water hovering and slowly orbiting above the SE's body ready to turn them in to a rain of death.

[Drascin]

For all response, Andy nods. "Roger. Focused force, got it" He looks at the rest as they prepare their attacks, and he turns his trajectory towards the SE with terrible speed. "Alright. On three... two... one..." he mutters, circling and ready to jump soon as the others prepare their attacks "...and NOW!"

With all the builtup inertia, Andy throws himself at a good hundred km/h towards the target point in a double flying kick. "Flying Icarus KICK!"


[roll0] Flying Icarus Kick, charging for +2 atk -2 def, all-out power attack for full 5.

EDIT: OH FOR... now I finally get a twenty in an attack? Now that I'm hitting something immune to criticals? Diceroller-tan, why must you taunt me so? :smallsigh:

[Cubey]

"Sanguine Blast!" Elizabeth backs up Andy's attack by creating a huge ball of crimson energy in both of her hands, and sending it towards the SE. As for Amanda, several small blue flames appear around her sword, and as she points it towards the huge enemy, the flames shoot forward.

(Since Ben planned to use a combination attack in the next round, and you can move in this one, then I'll count this attack for this round, and you can do a combo with other players in the next one. No need to waste an action.)

Your concerted efforts deal visible damage to the SE - opaque liquid sprays from the place where you hit, and some of its tentacles go visibly limp.
(Injured+Bruised)

But it is not enough to stop it - all of its tentacles suddenly start swelling, and the torsos' embrace gets more intensive. Since most captured people (including Akiho, Kazuma and even the usually quiet Usagi) suddenly start screaming, it seems the SE wants to crush them alive.

"N.... no! I won't let you!" Misty swirls around Laura start to reflect a myriad of colors, as she directs them towards the SE and the tentacles. Wherever the mist touches, the tentacles return to normal and stop swelling - it seems she managed to neutralize the effect of whatever is going to happen.


And then, the tentacles explode. But maybe implode would be a better description - everything in their nearest vincinity (including everyone trapped by them, but nobody else) turns opaque, and then a deafening rumbling can be heard. Just a second later, there is no sign of the tentacles, and there are only bodies on the ground. Many of them crushed or fragmented.

As an aftershock, feelings of sheer terror overcome you. The more lucid ones of you may realize that this too was caused by the SE.
(Emotion control: Fear, Will DC 25. Fearless people are immune.)

As for the SE itself, now tentacle-less, it disappears. Quite literally - it becomes translucent and then vanishes completely.

(What remains of the Ascenders does not attack you, because the bulbous Shifter is too terrified, and the armored one is stunned, so you can act now. If you want to take a better look at something... or someone, before acting, or call the Commander, feel free to do that too.)

[Tengu_temp]

"...No... Not again..." Emi can only stare in shock and fear. She thought everything was going to be alright after Laura negated whatever the SE was going to do, and then...
"This wasn't supposed to happen... It was supposed to be an easy mission..." The SE's unnatural influence doesn't have complete hold over her, but she's too terrified to approach the bodies. From the state of most of them, it's obvious what happened to the Japanese Shifters anyway...

(Shaken, in addition to previously caused Fatigued.)

[Drascin]

"You're not going to kill them, you bastard!" Andy roars as he bounces from the brutal impact against the monster, twirling in the air to give the SE a brutal Spinzaku kick as Laura counters the tentacles... but as his foot cuts the air, the thing dissappears. "Bwuh?!" is all he can say as he forces himself to complete the roll to the best of his ability and manages a kneeling landing, skidding a bit on the ground.

Then a wave of terror hits him, black tendrils in the mind mirroring those used by the SE in a more physical way. But it takes more than fear to keep Andy down. Fear just makes him clench his teeth and furthers his resolve.

"It's not over, ****er" he mutters, getting up. Then he extends his arms to the sides, the white in his armor gleaming, as the soil starts raising to his hands and shining, and he starts muttering something that sounds like a prayer in Spanish. It's kind of hard to catch, though, what with the screams of fear in the area.

As he does, the soil coalesces into steel, and the steel turns pristine, until Andy is left with a white shield marked with a red cross, and a longsword of crystal clear steel. And perhaps it's a trick of the light, or the War God's whiteness... but Andy does seem to give a soft, reassuring shine as grabs the sword and the shield from the air.

"Ready" He switches back on the general comms. "Lorne! Do you have any reading on where that thing got off to?"

[Cubey]

"Ishi Kazuma, Miura Usagi, life functions fading! There is no reading on Yama****a Akiho's vitals!" The mission control lady's voice pierces through the chaos.

"A relief team is on its way. The SE shifted to the second layer." The commander speaks up immediately after. His voice sounds grave and serious, and he does not give you any orders - does it mean you are supposed to act on your own now? Or maybe he's not sure what you should do yourself.


"THIS SOLVES NOTHING." Everyone hears the giant robot's voice, but it is explicitly aimed at Emi.

"DO NOT MOPE. I KNOW YOU CAN HELP. DO IT, NOW."

[Fri]

James feels like his heart skips a beat. But he stands erect and stares directly at where the monstrous whale disappears

"EVERYONE! LOOK AT ME!" He bellows, his scarfs flutters even more wildly. "STAND UP AND STARE THEM RIGHT IN THEIR EYES!" He continues. "WE'RE THE ONLY ONE WITH THE POWER TO DEFEND EARTH, SO WE'LL STAND UP AND FACE THE HEAVEN!"

James is fearless, so he doesn't get any penalty. Using emotion control: hope to counter everyone's fear. It got 50 feet radius, so hopefully it's enough to get everyone. If not, I'll use extra effort to make an alternate feat for the emotion control power that can get everyone

I must roll to counter ongoing effect, right?
[roll0] come on diceroll tan... it's a dramatic scene... give me a good roll....

note: cubey, this is actually my second roll. my first roll got deleted. just make it so I use hero point.

I'm not afraid of you, you useless sack of blubber! Whatever atrocity you can do, our fellow human can do worse to each others... James clenches his fists.

[Tengu_temp]

"They're still alive...", Emi whispers quietly after the message from the mission control. Still, Akiho is... No, no matter what happened to her, I need to at least save the other two! She swoops towards the ground, trying to fight off the fear of what might she notice among the bodies, and looks for the Japanese Shifters.
"Help me find Akiho, Usagi and Kazuma!"
Once she locates any of them, she approaches quickly and bathes them in healing particles. If more than one are in range, she'll use Healing Emission.

Base roll, add modifiers as appropriate: [roll0]
What is this supposed to be? I'm stealing a HP from Andy, using a HP reroll - 18 now. Save DC for stabilizing dying people is 10, so a roll was not even necessary.

[Cubey]

James manages to neutralize the field of absolute terror. Everyone can think clear again.

Emi:
The Japanese team was grouped all around Kazuma, so they all are in roughly the same place. And the three you are looking for seem to be all in one piece - good. But they still lie on the ground, and are not moving.

"Here, quickly!" Takeshi waves, trying to get your attention - but you already see the patients, and shower a healing emission at them. There's an immediate reaction, as Akiho takes a deep, pained breath. She looked the worse out of the three, severely battered and her limbs twisted in an unnatural way. But they should be fine - for now.

And you have a feeling that if it wasn't for their PSAs, there wouldn't be anyone left to heal by now.

[kamikasei]

Cat's still readying her attack when the SE strikes back, and gasps aloud when she see's what it's doing. "God damn it!" But it's vanished before she can try to change her focus to sever any of the tentacles.

In the wake of its disappearance she hangs in the air, shocked. At some level she's aware that part of what she's feeling is coming from the SE itself, but it doesn't really matter. It's true - they screwed up, she screwed up. They should have focused on getting everyone out and safe, before something like this could happen. And now, the others... like the troopers before they'd even arrived...

But. Cat takes a deep, shuddering breath, air cooled by her visor. The SE probably isn't gone, just hiding, and they can't afford to let their guards down. And there are still Ascenders left, probably, even if all the ones the creature had caught are dead (just like...). She sees Andy below her, uncowed. That's right - they have to stand strong. There's still so much to do...

Cat catches sight of the bulbous enemy Shifter, caught in the throes of the SE's emotional weapon. Flying overhead, she raises a hand and the snow around him flows up and around to encase him in ice.

Snare on Cancersaur; [roll0], all out power attack full plus Master Plan so DC 25.

[Tengu_temp]

Even Akiho...! Oh God, such a relief... Emi feels that tears start to flow to her eyes. Maybe this won't be such a bad mission as the space one, after all.
"I... I'm sorry this happened to you... I was so close and yet didn't free you on time...", she tells Akiho, the only one who appears to be conscious. "But you're safe now. Just lie down and rest, everything will be fine. The relief team is going to be here soon."
Floating above her patients, Emi creates a protective dome around them (she's not going to repeat her mistake of leaving badly-wounded people unshielded) and lands on it. Only now that she's on the ground she notices that her legs are shaking from stress and exhaustion, and she sits down.
"They are alive.", Emi broadcasts on the radio. "Akiho, Usagi and Kazuma are heavily injured, but their lives are not in danger. I made a barrier to protect them, tell me when the medical team is close so I can remove it. Lorne, can you check if any of the Ascenders are still alive?"

Using Extra Effort for a surge, and a Hero Point to return from Exhausted to Fatigued. My own HP this time.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage: Unharmed
Defense: 18

Ben landed in a fiery flash in front of the armored shifter, looking in his anger like a demon from hell, and unloaded with nearly the same attack that he was readying to use on the SE until it disappeared. His entire body seemed wreathed in flame and he attacked in a rapid-fire explosion of punches, driving them straight into the armored shifter's weak points like his stomach, face, and throat. Each hit that connected gave off a burst of fire and scorched whatever it touched, but besides the power of the attack it was eventually obvious that Ben wasn't trying to kill the Ascender. Still, he used the big bastard as a punching bag, letting out all of his frustration at the shifting entity's disappearance and the Ascender's attempted ambush. This one wasn't getting away. He'd beat him to a bloody pulp and then interrogate him.

Readying a Hero Point in case this goes awry.
Autofire Strike 15 (Power Attacking for Full on the Charge): [roll0]
HP Reroll if Needed: [roll1]
I'll take the reroll result for a 24. +1 damage for every 2 above the enemy's defense. It's nonlethal.

[Cubey]

Cat:
You encase your opponent thoroughly. The Shifter is trapped and is not getting out in a while. There was little resistance, probably because the enemy was too busy being paralysed in fear to try to shake off the icy snare.

Ben:
Your attacks send the enemy reeling like a ragdoll, despite massive size and mass differences. One of your powerful hits to the face manages to do what you'd consider impossible when fighting against a Shifter - the already cracked faceplate breaks off, revealing what it was protecting.

And the Ascender's face has a bad case of missing skin. There are only red muscles, and of course eyes - staring straight at you, unnervingly. Although staring is the only thing this Shifter can do now.

(Bruised + Stunned)

Emi:
There is no response from Akiho. She's breathing, but apparently she is still not conscious or gathered enough to form any words.

[kamikasei]

Cat returns to the ground and sags, looking like she wants to sit or kneel but isn't letting herself. Instead she fidgets with her communicator. "Command, someone should pick this guy up before he can break loose. What's our next move? Withdraw and keep observing?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage: Unharmed
Defense: 20

This is for whenever my next turn is, if we're still in initiative order.

"You're not getting away! Not this time!" Ben said as he shot after the Ascender, leaping at him almost before he hit the ground. Ben jumped onto his chest and rode him down into the dirt, then lifted his glowing hands high. His hands smoked as they began to burn white hot, and when he brought his arms down in a double axehandle smash on the big Ascender's chest, the armor he hit began to bubble and melt. It was almost like Ben wanted to rip open the Ascender's armor like a tin can and yank him out of it as his fingers started to work in the cracks and warp whatever they touched.

Corrosion 10: [roll0]

[Cubey]

"Stay alert." The Commander sounds more composed now.
"The SE is not gone yet, merely Shifted on the second layer. Your priority is ensuring the safety of yourself and the wounded. Once the wounded are secure, you will resume with the original mission of observation. But if your target returns to attack, neutralize it as quickly as possible."

[Drascin]

"Already on it" is all Andy says, since he's already arriving near Emi and the wounded, looking around carefully for signs of the SE reemerging from the depths of Sophium shifting, and with his shield readied. Emi has done her job admirably, and it's solely thanks to her the others are alive. Now, it's his own job to keep them that way.

[Haven]

Lorne flies over the battlefield to get a good vantage point, trying to determine who needs medical attention and then very carefully applying telekinesis to get them to safety. If SECT starts sending out medical teams, he helps coordinate them.

He also keeps an eye on the SE's former position; recalling that heat conducts across layers of shifting, he tries to see if he can make out an infrared pattern.

[kamikasei]

Cat wearily walks over to the iced-up Ascender and places her hand on the shell encasing him. She'll have to do this carefully to avoid causing permanent damage - and it's tempting to do exactly that, tempting enough to make her rather uncomfortable - so she closes her eyes and concentrates. Reaching out through the ice holding him in place, she feels the water within his body and begins to cool it. Not too much, not too deeply, just enough to mess with his muscles and slow his heart, then...

Cat freezes ice crystals out in the Ascender's body, avoiding vital organs but paralyzing and shocking him. More so than the freezing coffin she has him in, that should keep him under for as long as SECT need to get him off the battlefield and somewhere secure.

That done, she heads for the wounded to help the medics move them - shaping hemispheres of ice around the snow they've fallen in to to make impromptu stretchers, handing them off to anyone who can carry them, not moving them herself until there are no more to be made, but then lifting a slew at once and levitating them in front of her as she heads back to the support teams - still on foot. Fatigue is clearly beginning to tell.

That's a coup de grace so an autohit and autocrit for +15 Corrosion, and a DC 25 Fortitude save versus unconsciousness if he's not knocked out outright. Nonlethal, mind.

[Cubey]

Ben:
Your action has surprisingly little effect. The armor refuses to melt and you do no damage.
But then, the Shifter's eyes bulge out a little, red veins clearly visible in them. And the whole figure collapses, lifeless.

It seems he really is not getting away from this.

Cat:
You manage to perform your action successfully - the thermal shock you provided is enough to knock the opposing Shifter out, without killing and hopefully without lasting damage.

That leaves no enemies left on the battlefield. Except for the SE, possibly.

Lorne:
According to your observations, there are almost no Ascenders left alive. Only the one Catriona just froze, and one earlier that Emi knocked out in defense of Akiho. Everyone else is dead.
As far as your allies go, you have three severely wounded Japanese people, and Matilda is pretty beaten up too. The rest has only minor wounds or bruising.

"Stay strong, Miura-san. Help is on its way." Akira kneels by the unconscious Usagi.

"Don't be so dramatic. She won't die." Takeshi responds harshly to his teammate's words, but then starts muttering under his breath.
"Damn tentacle. I was so close to freeing Akiho... damn. Damn it."

Lorne detects the SE - indeed, you can read its heat signature despite the layers of Shifting between you two. But this is not good news in any way: judging by the signature, its tentacles are regenerating. Not only that, they start spreading in directions all around you. Like if in preparation for an attack.

(You can post on a non-turn basis now, but judging from Lorne's discovery, you'd better act quickly.)

[Haven]

"Among the enemy forces, only the one-armed man you knocked out earlier and the enemy Cat knocked out just now are still alive." A bit of nausea rises in Lorne's stomach as he broadcasts his answer to Emi's question, but he holds it back. They're still in danger, after all. "Thankfully, we haven't lost anyone, but...

"I can still see the SE. Its tentacles are regenerating and moving into position--it's getting ready to attack again." He gives out the positions of the tentacles as exactly as he can. "We need to get the wounded to safety immediately, and be ready to strike when it returns to our layer of Shifting."

With that, he starts readying another orb of electricity. "I managed to stun it before, momentarily, with one of these. Andy, James, get to where we were preparing to strike before--it doesn't appear to be moving--and ready your own stunning attacks. Together we should be able to disrupt its coordination. Everyone else: evacuate the wounded, and then get in position to join in the attack."

Lorne keeps tracking the SE's movements and verbally relays any changes in position, of either it or the tentacles, as they happen.

Readying a Ball Lightning attack, to fire when it Shifts back in; will make it part of a combined attack with Andy & James if they choose.

[kamikasei]

Cat's training has paid off - she's able to operate the radio even while continuing her work packaging the wounded neatly for transport. "I could get something big and heavy ready to drop on it when it reappears. So could Emi, for that matter."

[Matar]

Todd falls to the ground when the SE shifts, but he doesn't move. He stands exactly where he is, knowing it's right under the SE. He growls a little under his breath, before broadcasting to the rest of his team.

"I'm sure everyone will be fine. They're strong. When everyone gets to safety, give the word. I want to be in place before we attack this thing again."

A pause.

"Hey Boss, what happens if I were to shift inside an SE? Any idea?"

[Tengu_temp]

What? This is not the end yet? I'm so tired... Emi gets up on her feet again. She's not exaggerating - she needs rest, both physically and mentally. And all those dead bodies around make her feel even worse.
So many people died today... I know they're Ascenders, but... they're still human! I haven't signed up for this...

But let's at least save whomever I can. We're not done here yet.

"Okay, I'm going to take a look at the surviving cultists. I'm taking the barrier down so you can evacuate the wounded - be quick, but careful, they're in a very bad state! Everyone who needs healing, gather in one spot." Emi does as she mentions on the radio. When it comes to Ascenders, she's in for a tricky maneuver - she needs to make sure their lives aren't in danger anymore, but without waking them up. Healing her wounded allies is much easier, luckily. If she has any time left after those, she's going to help with the evacuation.

Healing Emission to stabilize the dying on the two Ascenders: [roll0]
Healing Emission to cure wounds on allies: [roll1]

Add +2 if only a single person needs any of these. Can I take 10? If so, then I do that, ignore the rolls above.

[Fri]

"On it." James answers shortly. All of his body aches from tension and lactic acid build up, but it's not the end yet, not yet.

He's surprised on the news about how almost every ascenders around are dead though. He didn't think that his punch could kill them that easily

(readying stunning fowl fist toward the SE.)

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage: Unharmed
Defense: 20

Ben frowned within the helmet, though the t-visor remained implacable as ever. "Coward..." he said, cursing the armored shifter in parting. He hadn't killed the brute, so until he found out differently he'd assume that he'd somehow managed to kill himself. Possibly in the same way the other one they'd taken prisoner had. It didn't matter now. There were more important things to worry about at the moment.

He took off from the ground in an effort to stay clear of any invisible tentacles. "So the plan is to hit it as soon as it reappears again? I like it." he communicated to the others. "Do any of the injured still need a lift out of the combat zone?"

[Drascin]

"Yes they do" Andy answers Ben, still towering over the people hurt and ready for anything. "I'm sure the thing isn't going to spare on area attacks when it comes back. We made it angry. So relief teams, get these people and get out of dodge fast" he says through the comms, commanding and tense. It's probably regenerating as they speak, and it'll come angrier than ever.

(Still reading action, and using move action to ready the Deflect as well)

[Cubey]

"They are going to be fine, aren't they?" Amanda sounds worried as she, and the others who suffered moderate-to-light injuries (they're in one place because of Emi's healing), observe the severely wounded Japanese teammembers being carried away. The relief teams acted quickly - they didn't run on foot with stretches, but rather arrived in modified transports with gurneys. One of the transports is also upgraded to move captured Shifters, as its medical equipment is reinforced with metal restraints, undoubtedly made from Sophium alloys.

The relief teams acted fast, but it was still slow enough to give the SE a chance to attack if it wanted to. But it didn't - it just stays on the second layer, its tentacles spread in a large radius around itself (about 200 meters). MSAS troopers have arrived, but they were instructed to stay out of the tentacles' range. The one who instructed them to do that was Frank, who after issuing the order started to leave in direction of one of the trooper-carrying APCs.

"I need to pick up my armor." He says.

"Laura. Are you alright? Laura, answer me." The Commander is talking to the senior Shifter via the radio.

"I... I tried to stop it... but couldn't... I..."

"Do not beat yourself over it. You did everything you could."

"I'm sorry..." Laura's quiet voice is filled with pain and despair.

Elizabeth and Matilda look in each other's directions for a second. They apparently decided to comfort Laura, as they try to move in her direction... only to have the big robot block their way.

"EVERYONE STAY ON GUARD." Its artificial voice is loud and clear, now that there is less ruckus to dampen it.
"SORRY, THIS IS NO TIME FOR COMFORTING, THE ENEMY IS STILL ACTIVE. WE CAN THINK ABOUT WHAT WE DID LATER."

The robot turns around on its thick legs, facing the transports that are carrying your wounded.
"SORRY IF THIS SOUNDS HARSH."

The wounded are out of the way, and the SE still did not appear. What are you going to do?

[kamikasei]

The instructions to stay on guard are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, Cat's definitely starting to feel the strain of maintaining her PSA, having pushed herself pretty hard during the fight with the SE, and psychologically waiting for an attack you're sure will come but can't predict is taxing to say the least. But while they're still in the field facing danger, she doesn't have to deal with the fallout of the day's events. She doesn't have to look at the dead and wounded she helped evacuate all gathered in one place, or learn the dead troopers' names.

They're not doing so badly, all things considered. Frank was safe. Anne was traumatized and temporarily not a Shifter, but she was basically okay too - and Cat doesn't feel any particular twinges of conscience about thinking the experience may benefit the American girl a little, if it tempers her rashness and egomania. The Japanese Shifters (Cat's thinking of them as a unit - it's easier that way) are hurt, but safe now. Despite the ambush and the mayhem that ensued, they had made it through with no deaths from SECT, at least since her team had arrived.

And yet. There was a lot of red on the mountainside now. A whole lot of dead Ascenders, and not all of them down to the SE. That was worrying. Not just in the implications for how SECT's image would be affected, though that was definitely a concern, but in how her teammates would deal with the aftermath. Andy and Emi would probably beat themselves up over having been involved in it, even if they'd been pulling their punches as she had. Hell, for all that she's avoided lethal force there was every chance she'd snapped spines or broken necks when she knocked people out of the sky. James had really cut loose, which she supposed she couldn't blame him for as he had to fight using his own body and didn't have the range of options she had for nonlethal takedowns... but still, would he descend in to self-recrimination and guilt? Or feel totally righteous and unconcerned? The latter was probably the worse option.

To take her mind off the wait, she finds the controls on her communicator that let her contact Lorne directly. "Hey. What's with the robot thing? You heard anything about it? Is there a person in there?"

[Haven]

"I can only assume there's a person in there...the sophistication a robot would require makes it unlikely." Though it is a little tempting to speculate...good thing she didn't ask Sara.

After replying to Cat, Lorne switches to broadcast. "We've cleared the field faster than I expected--and the enemy is taking more time than I would have thought. With that advantage, let's try to take back the initiative. Ben, Cat, there's a chance your powers can affect it even on this layer of shifting, though I don't know how effective it would be. Probably not enough to harm the main body, so aim for the tentacles; we might be able to draw it out that way before it's ready and sabotage whatever it thinks it's doing."

He continues to concentrate on the spot where it will reappear, and on the ball of lightning between his hands, readying to fire the instant it returns to their layer.

I'm figuring that if heat conducts across layers, then an attack that damages by an extreme lack of heat would work too. Anyway, it seems like the way shifting works would justify being able to use Extra Effort to apply Affects Insubstantial to powers with a hot or cold descriptor. If nothing else it's worth a shot so we know if it'll work in future encounters ^^

[Fri]

"Don't shifting entities can't move through earth, shifted or not? What if andy throw some big chunk of earth toward it?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben shifted the spectrum of light that his eyes could perceive through his visored helmet into the infared spectrum in order to get a better look at the creature. If heat conducted through the shifting layers then he should be able to see it quite plainly. He hovered down into blasting range as he brought the shifting entity's tentacles into focus. He'd try to target the spot where they met the body again in order to take out as many of them as he possibly could. "Alright, let's give this a try. Ready Cat? On three."

[Cubey]

"Let's beat the crap out of this thing. It'll pay for what it did to everyone!" Sara supports your vision of dealing with the SE, but the Commander has a different opinion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe your current mission is observation. Do not attack the target preemptively - move out of its range of attack and if it still acts threateningly towards you, only then..."

But he is interrupted.
"We have a new Sophium signature!" The mission control speaks up.

"More Thoughts of Ascension?"

"Picking up visual... no. It's an ally."

The message is correct only for a certain definition of 'ally', as you can experience by your own eyes. The new Shifter is moving in fast, and enters your range of observation very fast.

And, for better and for worse, it is no one else but Devon. How did she manage to go undetected until now?

"Do you feel unease?" Her armor is not visible (but as you are well aware, it does not make her any less dangerous), and she looks even more ragged than usual. But her expression is same as always. She speaks these words after halting to a complete stop, which she did right smack in the center of the battlefield.

"The SE occupies the same place as you do. Just on a different layer."

[Fri]

"Where have you been Devon? We sure could use some help back then." James says, his voice flat and tense. But inside his heart, he feels kinda relieved. He can guess how the others would react to her presence right now, but he doesn't think about devon like the rest of his team. He know that Devon is strong, and a fresh fighter here right now could help a lot.

He's still pissed off that she didn't arrive sooner though.

[Cubey]

"I am stopping Thoughts of Ascension." Devon does not even turn in James's direction, but she at least answers him.
"Their power is increasing. You experienced that yourself."

"Devon...!" Laura sounds surprised to see her old friend. Surprised, but also elated.
"I, umm..."

"I must kill this SE. Follow me if you want." But the Shifter apparently did not think Laura deserves her attention, as instead she seems to concentrate, as the black PSA starts to cover her body.

It seems Devon is going to Shift and destroy the SE. What are you going to do?

[Tengu_temp]

Devon. Great. Where have you been when the SE almost killed some of our friends?
"Look around. Tell me what kind of a psycho would feel at ease in this situation?" Emi's in no mood for Devon's usual comments, she doesn't need even more things that make her feel bad. And then she apparently decides to be even more of a headache by going against their orders. "Hey, we're supposed to just observe this thing! Why do you must kill it anyway? The space SE is dead already."

[Matar]

Although the rest of his team was starting to show signs of fatigue from being in there PSA for so long, Todd seemed... fine. It seems that all that time he's spent in his training in his PSA is paying off, although that was about to change the moment he shifted. He hadn't been working on that... at all.


"Look around. Tell me what kind of a psycho would feel at ease in this situation?" Emi's in no mood for Devon's usual comments, she doesn't need even more things that make her feel bad. And then she apparently decides to be even more of a headache by going against their orders. "Hey, we're supposed to just observe this thing! Why do you must kill it anyway? The space SE is dead already."

"Actually." Todd chimes in to this, and... agrees with her. "I don't mind going with Emi's idea. We could leave for now and rest up. Hell, we could warden it off and use it as a trap for Ascenders or something. Maybe even study it from afar." Todd pauses for a moment. "I mean, I dunno. I just... think we've killed enough things today. That's all..."

[Cubey]

"These things will not stop until humanity is annihilated. I refuse to let it live."
Devon doesn't seem convinced in the least.

(Technically, she was going to Shift right now, but I want to wait for everyone to react first.)

[Matar]

"Well Devon, I love you and all. But uh." Todd pauses before continuing. "I'm sure you can handle yourself just fine. And there isn't really a reason for us to try to kill it... It's up to the Boss, but uh..." Todd looks straight up at where the SE is, even though he can't see it "I don't think we have any reason to help you. So, what's your call Boss? Am I right or am I wrong"?

[Haven]

Dammit, Devon. You could have single-handedly prevented this Charlie Foxtrot if you'd just operated as part of a unit...I hope whatever it was you were doing was worth it.

"Commander...in the course of previous encounters, what behavioral data is there--" Lorne pauses, then speaks the question that matters right now a bit more frankly. "Sir, what exactly do you expect the SE to do without its counterpart?"

There's a bit of an edge in his voice--he's not going to take an equivocation of any kind. If we can avoid having to go against this thing again? That's fantastic. But I won't put people at risk by failing to take action. Devon is...volatile, but that doesn't automatically make her wrong.

[Tengu_temp]

And there she goes. She's probably right, we've seen how violent this monster is, but... This is the only chance to learn more about the SEs! We can't throw something like that away! Not after all the sacrifice that went into it...
Emi's waiting to see what the others are going to do. She doesn't want to attack the SE until it becomes a danger again, bit if they Shift to fight it, she's not going to let it hurt them.

[Cubey]

"We do not know, mr Leander. This event is without precedence, so we can only hypothesise. The two most likely options are the SE either disappearing completely or turning violent. Which is why we must observe - act extremely carefully, keep your distance and do not act hostile. I forbid you from attacking it except for self defense. This applies to you too, Devon. Do you hear me?"
With the last sentence being said, Clayton's voice turns from his usual explanatory tone to a harsher one. It seems even he is losing his patience when it gets to dealing with Devon this time.

"I hear you. But I do not agree with your decision." Devon does not have a communicator of her own, but apparently her senses are keen enough to pick up the message from one of yours. Her black armor is fully on now, and she slowly turns transparent - she starts to Shift into the first layer. Shifting is pretty much instant, but it seems she uses a slow version for one reason or the other.

The Commander says nothing, but you can hear a loud noise, like if someone slammed a desk in frustration.

[Matar]

"Let her fight it." Todd looks at the rest of his team, walking towards them. "She's tough enough to run if she gets her ass kicked, and if she wins, well, minus one SE."

With that Todd turns to where the SE would be and... yells.

"Hey! Guy! Someone is about to attack you, but were not with them! Just so long as you don't go all rampagy on us we'll leave you alone, alright?!" Todd gives a small wave and turns to walk back to his team. "We wouldn't let her fight you, but we don't have a say-so when it comes to her. Sorry." He doesn't yell that last part. And a very part doubts the SE can ever hear him, but he still felt like he had to say -something-.

When he meets his team he heads right over to Laura and gives her a little pat on the shoulder, assuming he makes it that far of course.

"She'll be fine."

[Haven]

"...Understood, sir." The orb of electricity between Lorne's hands disperses back into the air from which it had been accumulated, and the segments of his armor clamp back into place. It looks a lot less imposing now.

Now for the hard part...I hope to God they understand me.

"Devon...the enemy is immune to the structural damage consistent with your preferred mode of attack--the shattering that you attempted to inflict on Todd. I respect your power, but we have a weapon that can defeat our enemy more thoroughly than anything you possibly could do to it. As you can see," he sweepingly gestures at the battlefield below, and feels a brief surge of anger at himself for making his point this way, "we won't flinch do what needs to be done. Please, let us do it."

He lands next to Todd, and nods. Speaking quietly instead of broadcasting, he says "I'm going to help you talk to this thing...if Devon doesn't go berserk. Slim odds, admittedly."

[Matar]

He lands next to Todd, and nods. Speaking quietly instead of broadcasting, he says "I'm going to help you talk to this thing...if Devon doesn't go berserk. Slim odds, admittedly."

Todd laughs and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm fine with that. Hell, if you want I could ask the SE if it wants help stopping Devon. She needs to learn she's not in charge anyways. At least we could help make sure she doesn't get herself killed..."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"What in the hell do you think you're saying?" Ben yelled from where he hovered. "This thing has killed people. Good people! SECT people! Now you want to talk to it and get all buddy buddy? This is NOT some misunderstood animal, you morons! It's a monster whose only purpose it to kill every living thing on this planet! Now you're talking about helping it against one of our own? You make me f*cking sick!"

"Screw this. That thing needs to burn. If Devon starts a fight with it I'm not going to let her do it alone."

[Matar]

"What you think." Todd looks at Ben, glaring. Although you can't exactly see it. "Doesn't really matter to me. If Command or the Boss says to attack, fine. But hell if I'm going to listen to some hothead who's fueled by anger instead of youthful passion!"

[Fri]

James shakes her head, torn. "Ben, I agree with you and Devon. Shifting Entities are only good for one thing, they're simple to deal with. But I get what Lorne and Commander means...

We need to learn more about them so we can fight them better. Knowing... he struggles to continue. "Is half the battle..."

[Drascin]

At all this, Andy seems strangely silent. Is he aquiescing with his silence?

Not quite. Like Cat, he is feeling horribly sick at all this - sick, and guilty, and a myriad of other things. Even as he walks, his feet cause wet sounds as he steps on the blood of Ascenders. It's taking him all his self-control to not roar and throw himself at the monster on his own. Thankfully, none of their own had been killed, but... men dead are men dead. It doesn't matter that they were wrong men. They still should not have been killed. But his own teammates tore into them with such hatred, he's not even sure he can look at them anymore...

Must keep calm. Must not think of it. There will be time to be sick later. This is a time for reason. Andy clutches his sword, a replica of the sword of a saint that faced a dragon with nothing more than his will and his faith, a bit tighter, finding a certain relief on the symbol it provides. He's a protector. It matters not if the world went upside down - it is the duty of a man, of a hero, to cling to what is right.

So he approaches. And when he talks, he does it in a neutral, obviously- pained tone, a he tries to keep rage and sadness alike out from his voice. "Ben. See, this is why I said you and me could never be squad captains. I want nothing more than throwing myself at that ****er and stabbing at it repeteadly for what it has done today - to our men, and to the Ascenders both" The rumbling of the War God seems to add a certain gravity, majesty, to his words. Still, it's impossible to fail to notice how pained, how distasteful he finds what he is saying. "But now, that would not be a good action to do. We should try to learn about these things. Because there will be more, and the greater our knowledge, the more likely it is we will be able to stop peple from getting killed next time. We are protectors, Ben. We are not avengers"

[kamikasei]

For Christ's sake, Cat thinks to herself disgustedly at the whole exchange between Devon, Todd and Ben. Fortunately, Andy's dealing with it with more calm than she'd be able to muster at the moment, so instead she uses her radio. "Commander. Do we restrain Devon?"

[Cubey]

"Stop... stop it!"
This desperate protest is, surprisingly, enough to stop Devon from trying to Shift. But it might be because the protesting one is Laura.

"Can't you see? You are sabotaging us here! We... we may not be as strong and powerful as you are, but we have a plan! And, you are ruining it. If there is something you know about this SE, why won't you tell us? There is so much we don't know about it..." Laura pauses, supposedly to take a breath - but when she continues, her voice sounds more confident. It's like if she found a good point to make.
"You always said everyone should discover things by their own, but now that we try to do that, you want to stop us? That's..."

Devon, still in armor but definitely on the normal plane of existence, just looks at Laura with a PSA-obscured gaze. And then, she starts to walk away from the SE, like if nothing happened.

"We stick to the original plan. Everyone, please retreat to a safe range. We will observe the SE and its behavior." The Commander sounds relieved, and does not even try to hide it too much.

[Haven]

Lorne too sounds relieved.

"Commander...on a previous engagement, Todd was able to communicate with a Shifting Entity in a limited fashion while his body was under its control. I believe I have a way to reproduce similar conditions in a much more favorable manner. Requesting permission for us to attempt such communication now, as it is the best opportunity for diplomacy with a Shifting Entity that has yet arisen. It would be an invaluable source of data, and may help prevent resumption of hostilities."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"I don't understand how smart people can be so damned stupid." Ben griped, completely ignoring the group now that Devon had left. Then he followed suit, heading for the top of a nearby mountain. He didn't want any part of their idiotic "talk to the fuzzy SE" plan, but he'd be within range when everything inevitably went to hell and the SE had to be destroyed anyway.

[Tengu_temp]

At least there's one person Devon is willing to listen to... Emi's relieved that the fight/argument stopped before it went out of hand. She doesn't need even more headaches. And Ben's stance, for example, is a headache.
"We're not being friendly with the SE or treating it as a misunderstood animal. We want to gather information and then kill it when it becomes aggressive again."
And I hope that happens soon... I've had enough of all this death and suffering today...

[Cubey]

"Yeah. You don't negotiate with terrorists, and this thing's worse than a terrorist." Sara grumps a little too. It's obvious she's barely restraining an urge to jump in and start punching more SE than you can shake a stick at.

"How far away really counts as safe? These tentacles can stretch out seemingly without limits." Elizabeth seems concerned about more practical matters, rather than clashes of personal opinion. Her teammates stay silent, deep in thought or wary of the SE.

As for Akira and Takeshi, they too are silent, but for different reasons. And it's obvious what the reason is - their wounded friends.

Lorne's inquiry is answered, but not by whom you'd expect.
"IS THAT NECESSARY? THE SE WILL NOT TELL YOU ANYTHING IMPORTANT. ON THE OTHER HAND THIS IS AN EARTH TYPE, SO IT CAN BE DIFFERENT. IN THAT CASE, I VOLUNTEER MYSELF TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SE."
The robot's automated voice must sound neutral, it's a synthesiser after all. Then why do you get a feeling of disdain that it carries? And the disdain is aimed at the SE.

[kamikasei]

Cat stares at the robot. "How can you know what it might say? Isn't the whole point of this mission that we've never had this chance before?"

[Cubey]

"WE DID NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO OBSERVE AN UNPAIRED SE, HOWEVER WE HAD CONTACT WITH A SHIFTING ENTITY EARLIER. TO BE MORE PRECISE, I DID. COME ON, IS MY IDENTITY SUCH A MYSTERY?"
The robot turns in place on its deceptively thick, clumsy legs. It faces Catriona, and if it had a face of its own, it would probably look amused.

[Drascin]

"It's easy. They probably manage more or less the same way you manage to insist trying to find out about these things to prevent further deaths before we kill it is less important than satisfying your own inability to keep your rage under control" Andy tells Ben, not even looking at him. "Do you think we don't want to pound it dead too, you monumental idiot? In case you didn't notice, I have double the reasons to want it dead as you do, because I still feel mercy for those brainwashed by Ascension that died here today" he says, curtly and dryly.

The robot's answer, however, makes him freeze and stop dead in his tracks. That kind of answer... he has a hunch. No, it has to be just his imagination, the technology for that should be still material for sci-fi. However, he stares at it fixedly. He can't shake the feeling, so much that it has even distracted him of his rage. "...who are you?" he asks, still looking at it.

((Ninja'd by cubey))

And when the answer comes, it seems to confirm everything Andy had imagined. Boggling so hard he can't contain his mouth, he can't help but blabber "...Patricia Heinrich?"

[Tengu_temp]

What?! I wondered who exactly is inside that thing, but I didn't expect...
"Is that really you? Patricia-san? But I thought you're...!" Emi can't finish. This discovery is shocking, but in a good way.

[Cubey]

"I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY KNEW AND IF NOT THEN I PLANNED TO REVEAL MYSELF ONLY AFTER THE BATTLE. HOWEVER EVERYONE IS BEING DRAMATIC, SO IT IS MY TURN NOW."

The robot kneels down and its pneumatics hiss loudly. Its whole pieces start to move themselves out of the way, opening the outer shell and revealing the insides. But before you see anything, you notice huge amounts of liquid spilling out. This liquid is transparent and smells like unpleasant medicine.

Inside the robot is a cramped cockpit - with screens and even something akin to a controller's chair. And on the chair lies a female figure. Although heavily bandaged, it is unmistakenly Patricia Heinrich. She's the same as the last time you saw her, except soaking wet due to the liquid that used to be in the cabin - and of course, she doesn't look dead anymore. Her wounds are taken care of, hidden under bandages or casts rather than bleeding.

"THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME THE LAST TIME." She moves her right hand's fingers across a keyboard of some kind, and the voice says this immediately after. Other than the hand, it does not look like she is moving in any way.

"Is everything alright? Your hatch is open." The mission control miss Darius asks with worry.

"I NEEDED FRESH AIR."
A laconic answer.

[Haven]

"That's...that's amazing," Lorne says, his voice tinted with awe, both at Patricia's survival and at the sophistication of the technology keeping her alive. "But--well, no disrespect meant, but I believe Todd is extremely qualified for this. It all rests on the commander's decision, however."

[Matar]

Todd nods his head a little. "Yeah, not to brag but I'm good at talking, ya know?" Todd pauses for a moment. "I'm just sayin. I've had a conversation with one as well. It was weird, but I managed it."

Todd then does a double take and looks at the giant... robot... thing.... girl. The only thing he can mutter is "That is so hot."

[Tengu_temp]

That's too much emotions for one day, and Emi can't control herself anymore. She grabs the robot's giant hand with both of hers (she doesn't want to hurt its wounded pilot by accident), and while there is no change in the outwards appearance of her armor, the sobbing sounds coming from the inside pretty much speak for themselves.
"Patricia-san... I'm so sorry... I made a mistake and failed to protect you, and I thought the SE killed you because of that! I felt so bad..."

[Cubey]

"From an objective point of view, mr Todd's PSA is much more durable than a Gaia class sophium suit." The Commander's first sentence carries a tone of pondering, like if he was weighting options.
"I give you permission to try to establish contact with the SE. But act extrarodinarily careful. Your safety is a priority, so retreat at any sign of danger."

"YOU DID NOT MAKE A MISTAKE AS THE SE PERHAPS KILLED ME AFTER ALL. I AM NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED MYSELF BUT WE WILL TALK LATER." The robot lets go of Emi's grasp, but does it as gently as a ten feet tall machine can. And it does it because Heinrich's cockpit is closing again.
"OXYGENATED LIQUID LEVEL NORMAL. OPERATION TIME REMAINING 658 SECONDS."

"Who is this woman? Should we be familiar with her?"
"Patricia Heinrich, Alexander's first operator. You know... when Stork's Nest was attacked, she was supposed to be, uhm..."
The Americans were loudly discussing among each other, but now that the Commander gave his blessing and permission to act for Todd, they stop.

"I will cover you. Please do not worry." Amanda sounds eager to help.

"All of us will help... right?" Matilda adds.
"Just... don't do stupid things, okay? Don't get hurt."

You are allowed to try to contact the SE. But will it work?

[Tengu_temp]

"Alright..." Emi lets go herself. This emotional outburst, while short, provided her with great relief, and, while still tired, she's ready to follow her friends and support them now. How long will she stay in this state? No idea. Probably not for very long.
"I have one thing I will have to ask you about when we're done, Patricia-san: what exactly did that SE tell you." Her voice sounds serious.

[Haven]

"Understood, commander." With that, Lorne turns to Todd, floats up a few feet in the air, and holds out his arms. Strangely, he starts chanting wordlessly.

The air starts to buzz. A minor tornado gathers around Lorne. The shifting pattern of stylized wind on his PSA bursts off Aeolus, and begins following the path of the whirlwind around them. Now visible, the vortex begins to accelerate and shrink, catching Todd in its eye. It starts changing colors rapidly, turning from silver to blue to green to yellow before--as it finally curls around Todd's armor--settling on a bright red, which layers onto the Green Wizard as a slowly moving pattern.

Instantly, Todd's perception expands rapidly: he can sense how the people around him feel. Lorne lands next to Todd, his fear, determination, and fatigue now transparent to him. Aeolus looks oddly lacking, without its usual insignia.

"Now...just...make the most of it," he says, breathing heavily.

After he gets his breath back, he explains "We need to stay within a meter and a half of each other, but you should be able to communicate within three hundred meters of the SE. Good luck."

Extra Effort to stunt the following Alternate Power off of Nemesis:

Container 3 (Affect Others +0, Extended Reach)

Container:
Communication 3 (Empathic) (1,000 feet)
Supersenses 6 (Detect Emotion [mental, free action], acute, ranged, extended 2 [-1/1000 ft range increments])
Enhanced Feat 2 (Second Chance versus Mind Control, Mental Blast)
Enhanced Save 4 (Will +4)

[Matar]

"All of us will help... right?" Matilda adds.
"Just... don't do stupid things, okay? Don't get hurt."

"Of course not! The Todd never does anything to get himself hurt! Except... except when he does. Then uh... yeah..."

Todd blinks under his mask, forgetting what point he was trying to make. And the Lorne does... whatever he just did. And Todd trips the **** out.

"Whoa... whoawhoa... this is... weird... Whoa. Okay. Uhm." Todd stops talking for a moment and collects himself. "Okay. I'll shift first. Give me a moment to make sure it's not going to try to kill me, then you follow alright?"

And with that Todd takes a deep breath and opens his soul to the actor. Letting the world feel what he wants it to feel. Being what he wants to be. And he wanted to be someone without anger. Without hostility. Without fear.

And he was what he wanted to be.

If the SE attacked him right away, at the very least they would learn something about them. And if it didn't, they would learn something anyways.

Let the learning begin!

With that, Todd shifted, looking right at the SE and giving a small wave. Reaching out to it with Lorne's help he began to communicate with it. Starting off with a simple... "Hi, I'm Todd. Who are you?"

Of course, he didn't use just words. He also used feelings. Raw, and pure emotions. The tentative warmth, unsure yet eager. The feeling of a first meeting. A powerful sense of self, green and youthful soon followed. A greeting, followed by who the greeter was. And then the same feeling, but instead of green and youthful it filled with desire to know, directed at the SE itself. A question of wanting to know who it was.


This whole talking through emotions thing is freaking hard. Here's hoping I was clear.

[Cubey]

Lorne's display of power works just as intended - it should make it easier to communicate with the SE. Todd shifts, making the physical world seem a bit blurry and transparent around himself.

And when Shifted, you can see the SE, as it sits on the second layer which is impossible to notice normally. Its tentacles have regenerated completely, and then some more - they are spread all over around the place, but they just lie limply on the ground. It doesn't look like the SE is going to attack, so you can attempt communication.

And when you do, you are immediately awash with one dominant emotion: loneliness. The SE yearns for someone's presence, to the extent that it almost ignores anything else. And it's easy enough to figure out whom does it want to see - its space-type counterpart, now already destroyed.

[Matar]

Todd relays as much of this as he can to Lorne. It's difficult, however. The entire mental message is... fuzzy. However, he manages to (barly) get his message across. The SE is lonely, very lonely.

Todd really hopes that Lorne can read his mind right now or something. Because this whole psychic thing is freaking hard.

After relaying the message, Todd trys something a bit different. He reaches out with a warm feeling. An offer of friendship, or at least the willingness to listen to listen to the SE. A gentle understanding of that it's like to be alone, and a willingness to help it overcome it.

[kamikasei]

Cat's armour preserves her dignity a little, as it means no one can see her gawp incredulously at Patricia Heinrich. It's not hard to guess from her stance and silence that that's what she's doing, though. Indeed, the revelation is so astonishing that she can't think what to say or ask first, and others use the window instead to speak before Heinrich turns back to their mission.

Cat returns to watching the area the SE should be occupying, somewhat uselessly as they're not Shifting yet. Inside she's suppressing the questions that threaten to distract her from her task - questions like what Heinrich had meant by that slightly ominous comment about possibly having died after all...

She does spare an eye for Lorne and Andy to see how they're reacting, though. Emi's outburst makes her opinion clear, if unsurprising, and Cat would rather give her space for now.

[Cubey]

The SE's reaction to Todd's warm, friendly thoughts is straightforward. Its tentacles raise and are moving in your direction, their torsos (this detail is still in, unfortunately) already opening their arms wide in a pre-emptive embracing attempt.

The thoughts you receive are a bit confused but satisfied. But there are more important issues at the moment than reading them - will you try to dodge the tentacles, or let them ensnare you?

[Fri]

Patricia Heinrich? What kind of game are SECT playing? Why didn't they tell them that she's still alive? He just think of her as one of those professional soldiers SECT have who lost their live in the war against SE, but he know some of his comrades are traumatized by her so-called death. But there are more important things now.

As he sees the SE extends its tentacle, James calmly moves into a stance.

[Drascin]

Andy, on his end, is too surprised and overwhelmed at Patricia being alive and here that he does not actually react for a moment, simply staring, dumbfounded. It's a good thing that the God covers his face, because he's opening and closing his mouth without making a sound.

It isn't until she's back into her cockpit that he manages to snap out of it. This was just like something out of a mecha anime. He had been chastising himself just a moment earlier for suspecting it, because it was too scifi! But not only was she alive - thank you God for your mercy - she's here in the first line of fighting.

So when he speaks, it's in a neutral, still surprised tone - but it's obvious that the sheer surprise managed to knock his rage offbalance, because he sounds more like he usually does. "...we don't have time for lengthy speeches. I will bark at Clayton for not telling us later. But Patricia, I have to say two things. First, it is good to really meet you. Second... you have balls of ****ing adamantium, seriously".

However, after that, seeing Lorne is starting the communication, he nods and refocuses, clutching the sword tightly. Yes, it was great, but there's still an SE to kill out there. He tenses, and waits for the fight to start. However, even as the tentacles start moving, he doesn't jump yet. Let's give Todd a chance at diplomacy before Hell raises again...

[Matar]

Todd raises his hand to the rest of his teammates to show that everything is fine... for now. His thoughts don't shift, however. He keeps the warm, relaxing feelings directed towards the SE. Although, there is now a hint of protectiveness, in an effort to show that he doesn't want anyone to hurt the SE. A brotherly feeling, in human terms.

What that means in SE terms... who knows?

So Todd lets the tentacle embrace him. What happens next depends on the SE. If it doesn't do anything to harm him, he tries to talk to it. If it harms him, but seems to do so unintentionally, Todd tells him as much. To relax and ease up, that it's hurting him without intending to do so.

If the SE gets violent, however, Todd offers a warning. That he will protect himself if he has to, but he doesn't want to get violent. He just wants to talk and make friends. And if that doesn't stop the SE, well. He tells Lorne to bring in some back up, and then tries to free himself.

With any luck however, it won't have to come to that.

[Cubey]

The tentacles embrace Todd tightly, completely immobilizing him.
And the SE itself suddenly starts feeling very hurt and betrayed. Its tentacles start to noticeably bulge out - just like what happened the last time, before they exploded.

The situation looks bad.

[Matar]

"Welp." Todd says to himself. "This... isn't going well."

Todd tries to shift back to reality, or whatever the correct terminology is. If that doesn't work, he just rips himself free, and -then- shifts back. He's trying to avoid fighting if possible, only attacking the SE if it decides to start attacking for real, instead of just being a big wimpy baby.

"Your call Boss. Do we retreat, attack, or what?"

[Cubey]

Todd's attempt to Shift does not go very well, because the SE moves across the layers along with him - that is, he returns to reality but it appears on the first layer. However, you do manage to break free from the tentacles... somehow. But on the other hand, everyone is in danger of being grabbed by them next - nobody stands on or near the tentacles, but they're close enough that the SE can capture them if it only stretches them out a bit more.

"The SE is hostile again. Everyone, attack and destroy it!" The Commander gives an order, but someone acted even before he started to form the first word.

Devon is already at the SE proper, beating it up with merciless kicks and punches. Her attacks lack finesse, but make up for that by pure number of hits - and, judging from their result, with pure power as well.

[Haven]

"Damn! Everyone, coordinated attack on my mark..."

He begins to charge another ball of electricity; once at least Andy and James are in position to stun the creature, he broadcasts "Now! and fires.

I wish it hadn't come to this...

Ball Lightning, attempting to combine attack with (at least) James and Andy, take three. Power attacking for full. [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Emi is observing Todd communicating with the SE, without Shifting herself - she doesn't need to see more of the creature. At first everything seems to go well, but from the moment Todd seems to get grabbed, Emi already starts to get a bad feeling. A feeling that proves to be true when the SE materializes moments later.

"So much for trying to communicate...!"
Emi creates a swarm of sharp crystal shards around herself, and, pointing forward, sends it flying towards the creature. She aims for the place Lorne previously identified as the SE's weak spot.
Let's hope Todd at least learned something...

Autofire attack roll: [roll0]

[Matar]

Can I combine my attack as well? If so I do that >_>

Todd quickly moves in close, and unleashes a blazing assault. Striking with as much youthful passion as he can muster!

Which is alot!



Move action to get close to the SE.
Hero point for another action.
Using a full round action to attack the SE with an Attack Flurry.

Attack Flurry Power Attack 5 All Out Attack 5 Every two points above its defense increases the damage by 1

[roll0]

[Fri]

James launches his stunning fowl fist at Lorne's command.

[roll0]

[kamikasei]

Cat goes straight up, taking a large chunk of the mountainside with her it seems, shaping the snow in to spears once she's got some height. "Ben, go!" she radios, then sends the projectiles lancing down in to the SE's vulnerable point after Ben first heats it up per Lorne's suggestion.

Combined attack with... well, everyone, I hope, all-out power attack for full: [roll0] (haha no, 26 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8351121#post8351121)), +15 base damage.

I just realized I didn't say what I was actually attacking with - this is the autofire blast (with improved critical but that's not in play here).

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage Condition: Unharmed
Defense: 13 (for the round!)

"And here he comes: the most unsurprised person in history, ladies and gentlemen! Did he see that coming? Well, of course he did!" Ben grumbled over the comm as he shot like a rocket toward the creature, targeting the same spot as everyone else. He unleashed a dizzying, rapid-fire assault of fiery punches and kicks right alongside Devon, Todd, James, and others.

All-Out Power Attacking for Full on the Charge Autofire Strike 15!: [roll0]

[Drascin]

Biting down the remark that burns in his tongue on hearing Ben's words, Andy simply charges forward, bringing the sword to bear in a brutal straight stab at the same time James hits.


[roll=Attack]1d20+12 Sword of Light (Strike+Nullify something the SE has), full All-out Power Attack for 5 plus a charge. The remaining 1 defense bonus I have left after that goes to withstand damage, because 11 def is not going to do anything for me anyway :smalltongue:.

Roll mistagged because I'm unbelievably clumsy -_-. See OOC for roll.

[Cubey]

"Yaaaah!" Sara joins the fray, and so do all the other Shifters, either bombarding the SE with their strongest possible attacks from afar (in the case of Amanda, Elizabeth and Akira), or slashing and hitting it from close range (everyone else).

Like before, the SE's skin thickens when you attack it - its body is not squishy and soft, but rather turns into crystalline, incredibly hard structures. And there lies its weak point, as under an unrelenting barrage of hits, the crystal shatters!

And once the outer layer is broken, the SE's insides are practically defenseless. Your attacks start carving out huge chunks of the creature, and those of you who attacked with a charging momentum, like James, might even find themselves bursting into the SE, only to emerge from the other side, leaving huge entry holes.

The entity does not even emit a depressed, longing sound anymore. It just stops doing anything, other than floating in place lifelessly. You are almost entirely sure that you have just killed it.

So much for communication.

[Fri]

James sommersaults in the air, then lands half kneeling.

"So much for research... Todd, what wen't wrong?" he says, still half kneeling.

[kamikasei]

Cat stays up on high, looking ready to blast the thing again if it twitches. "Is that it? Is it down?" she radios to Lorne.

[Matar]

"So much for research... Todd, what wen't wrong?" he says, still half kneeling.

Todd radios back. "A couple things. But we learned some stuff, even if it's minor. But uh, I'll tell you all later."

[Tengu_temp]

"It's dead, isn't it? It's not going to suddenly regenerate and fight us again or anything?" The defeat of the creature doesn't make Emi feel accomplished. She just hopes it's all over now.
At least Todd managed to get some information. Good.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage Condition: Unharmed
Defense: 20

"The other SE's fell apart and disintegrated when we killed them. Keep an eye on this one until it does, too, because otherwise it might still be alive." Ben said, hovering in place on the other side of the creature from where he'd charged it. He'd flown right through the thing like a fiery missile after they'd pierced the shell and come out covered in gore, but fortunately a quick flash of fire had removed that problem.

[Cubey]

"Yeah, we did it." Sara seems confident as she strikes a post-asskicking pose, like some kind of masked warrior of justice. And in a way, that's what she is.

"SE 03A's sophium signature is fading. It is most likely destroyed!" Mission control sounds cheerful, and judging by the background sounds at her side, she's not the only one.

If you stay around for a bit longer. you notice that the SE starts to detoriating like a dead one should. It seems it won't be regenerating after all.

With the threat neutralized, more SECT personnel can get in. And everyone looks either relieved or elated that the SE has been downed. There are worried faces among the crowd though - it seems some people remember that humans died today... not to mention the Japanese team, whose members did not perish (hopefully), but are still in a terrible condition.

And then, there's Devon. She just leaves the moment the SE has been neutralized.

"Devon. Please... I want to talk." She is interrupted by (who else?) Laura.

"Not now. I am tired." But Laura gets promptly brushed off. Unless someone else interferes, Devon will just walk away in an indeterminate direction and then disappear.

"Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. There were unexpected circumstances, but you managed to overcome them. I am proud of you." Pride indeed fills the Commander's voice, even if not everything went as smoothly as you'd hope for.

"WE NEED TO TALK. MEET ME AT THE HOSPITAL. I WILL NOT BE MOVING ANYWHERE." Miss Heinrich conveys a message via the robot's artificial voice. Then, she makes the Gaia suit kneel and open itself again. This time though, there are technicians and medics around - who proceed to extract her from within the metal thing's insides and put her on a guerney.

"Situation, normal. Vitals, all okay. Let's go." After performing a basic diagnosis, the medics move the guerney towards a modified sanitary transport. If Patricia moves past anyone of you, her body covered in a blanket and her face with an air breathing apparatus, you can notice her keen gaze as she stares right at you.

What are you going to do now? Frank is nowhere in sight, probably busy with the MSAS troopers - finding him might be possible if you search. The American girls seem like they want to go talk with Anne now. As for the Japanese... well, they don't look too happy. Especially once they dismiss the PSAs, and you notice dried tears on Akira's face.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks
Damage Condition: Unharmed
Defense: 20

"You guys going to be okay?" Ben directed his question to Akira, since he knew that Akira spoke English and he was better acquainted with him than the others after their sparring session a few weeks ago. "I'm sorry about what happened to the others, but they'll pull through. They're pretty tough." he reassured the Japanese shifter, putting a hand on his shoulder.

[Tengu_temp]

So it is dead after all. We're finally done here...
Emi finally can land down and unsummon Genesis. She looks terrible - visibly tired both physically and emotionally, drenched in sweat, and with red eyes from her recent crying outbreak. And she just knows another one will follow later today.
"Let's go to the hospital. I don't want to stay here..." She hesitates a bit, seeing the state the two unhurt members of the Japanese team are in, but she doesn't approach them. Ben, who is much closer to them than she is, is already talking with them, and they'll probably go to the hospital to visit their friends on their own. There's nothing she can do here to help.

[Matar]

"WE NEED TO TALK. MEET ME AT THE HOSPITAL. I WILL NOT BE MOVING ANYWHERE." Miss Heinrich conveys a message via the robot's artificial voice. Then, she makes the Gaia suit kneel and open itself again. This time though, there are technicians and medics around - who proceed to extract her from within the metal thing's insides and put her on a guerney.

Todd nods his head to this, blushing from under his PSA. He had no idea that he had a... he had no idea what kind of fetish it was. But whatever it was made him think that Patricia was the hottest thing he'd seen in a long time.

'Cause... damn.

Just damn.

Of course, Andy catches on right away. Because Andy is cool like that.


"Let's go to the hospital. I don't want to stay here..."

"Yeah, uh. Yeah. Let's uh... do that."

[Haven]

Seeing Emi's face in such distress hits Lorne like a punch to the gut; almost without realizing he's done it, he causes a light gust of wind to stroke her lightly, though it quickly ceases. Fortunately, his embarrassed expression is concealed by Aeolus' helmet.

Er...right, there's a good chance no one would make the connection and...wait, there's one loose end before I can start thinking about how embarrassing that would be.

"Commander, requesting permission to follow the course of the departed Thoughts of Ascension shifters with whom we negotiated Frank's release, on the chance there may be a base or staging area nearby. Will not engage if targets sighted."

If permission is given, he flies far above and follow their tracks--which shouldn't be too difficult to do even despite a lack of training, since they took off at high speed through snow-covered terrain.

[Fri]

James unsummons his PSA, and coolly puts his shades before walking toward the trees. When he's sure that no one can see him, he put his hand on one of the tree and starts to pants heavily.

The crunching of the bones and the ripping of the muscles. Unlike the others, he felt that directly on his hands. He didn't mean it, he never thought that they'll be killed that easily, but on the other hand, he did meant to punch them as hard as he could.

He's a mass murderer now.

James wipes some sweat from his face. He's been expecting this from the beginning. Remember your oath when you enter SECT, James. And you're a hero. What would Jackie Chan do? What would Mr. Miyagi do?

...They would let them live...

[kamikasei]

Cat looks... tired. And strained, as aside from the exhaustion of the effort she'd had to spend during the fight she visibly has a fair bit on her mind. Like Emi, the clothes that reappear once the armour is gone are sweaty and rumpled. Compared to the other girl, though, she's calm and collected.

At this point she's feeling a little superfluous - the immediate crisis having passed, the cleanup is best left to more qualified personnel, and she's not really in a position to help the more emotionally damaged Shifters deal with their problems. So she takes a softball option and speaks to Amanda and her teammates.

"Hey. Not sure if we'll all be heading off right away, so just in case - thanks for everything out there. I hope Anne feels better soon."

In all likelihood the Americans aren't planning to hang around, so unless they do engage Cat in conversation beyond an exchange of pleasantries she heads toward the medical teams and asks if there's anything she can do to help - resummoning Oisin will be taxing, but if she can get them all ready to leave sooner then it's worth it. If the teams don't need her...

Then she'd better talk to the others. First she goes looking for Andy. She'd rather have him with her when she talks to the Japanese team.

[Drascin]

"So it's done, then" Andy says. There is no euphoria in his voice. This was not a worthy victory. He kneels and melds the sword and shield back into the Earth with a muttered prayer, before dismissing the War God.

He looks around, but doesn't do much of anything, simply letting himself fall to a sitting position on the ground. He's tired - not physically, but emotionally. He had been able to push it aside, but... today too many things have happened. He needs a moment to think. He looks at Cat as she comes down and heads for the Americans, and manages a weak smile at her, but otherwise prefers to stay back, close his eyes and let the personnel work - and wait for when they have to say goodbye to the American team and visit the hospital.

[Cubey]

"There is no need to do that, mister Leander. We already put the Thoughts of Ascension shifters under surveillance." How thoughtful of the Commander.
"Their present location and doings are not a secret to us. The data is being processed by our agents, and we should retrieve very valuable information from their findings."

"We'll be okay." Akira notices Ben approaching.
"Everyone came here prepared for the worst. But the worst did not happen, so it's a gain for us. Still..." He clenches his fist and looks at it with a guilty face.
"I was so close to freeing Miura-san. But I didn't manage to do it. Are we really that weak?"

[Cubey]

"Do not worry about her. Anne isn't so fragile that such things will break her." Elizabeth answers Cat. She's already out of the PSA, but unlike so many others, she does not look tired or worn out for some reason.
"At least, I hope so. But thank you for your concern."

"She only got her amplifier permanently destroyed, that's all." Matilda throws in a tiredness-powered sarcastic comment.

Amanda says nothing because she is busy trying to help the medical personnel. But her aid is unnecessary, and so is yours if you try to offer your assistance. It seems that other than people hurt by the SE (whether the wounded Shifters, or people who were more... permanently taken out of commission earlier), nobody was injured during the operation.

Those of you who want to go to the hospital (which I assume means more or less everyone, especially considering Heinrich's invite) have no trouble doing so. You just pick up a ride on one of SECT's helicopters. Only some time later, you find yourself in a medical facility in Medford, southern Oregon.

You did not come here alone. On the contrary - all friendly Shifters came to the building as well. Usagi, Akiho and Kazuma are currently undergoing treatment and cannot be visited, to Akira's and Takeshi's visible nervousness - mostly the former, but that's because the latter manages to hide it better.

"I'm so sorry... when my powers were most needed, they just failed like that."
"No, Laura-san. It's alright... If anything, it is my fault. I wasn't strong enough to protect them."
Laura was talking with them, but it seems her efforts of comforting are more like taking blame on herself. And then, Akira tries to take the blame back.

"Please, do not say things like that. They will only make everyone feel worse." Amanda tries to interrupt the reverse blaming game.
"Pure Sophium Armor is able to absorb and significantly reduce force trauma. I am sure everyone will be alright. Just think positively, so your friends will be able to see your smiling faces when you visit them."

Her speech is observed by Anne. It seems the girl has the strength to stand up on her own now, as she is sitting on a visitor's bench rather than being bedridden. But she's still wrapped in a blanket and says nothing.


==============================
If anyone of you tries to locate Patricia, just asking the closest nurse brings quick results:
"Miss Patricia Heinrich? She can accept visitors, and said she's waiting for some. Might that be you? Please, come this way."

You are led into a rather small ward. It has only one bed, but there's a lot of sophisticated medical equipment around it. Its function - monitor and keep the patient alive. And the patient is no one else but Patricia Heinrich. Her glasses are put back on, and she is reading information from some computer screen - information that changes when she moves her fingers across a small keyboard. Like earlier, other than her right hand, her body does not seem to be able to move of its own.

She stops once she sees you enter.

"WELCOME TO MY PALACE. I AM GLAD YOU MADE IT SAFELY." She talks via the keyboard-controlled synthesized voice again. It sounds more primitive now, so it's probably a different version than what she uses inside the armor.
"WE HAVE MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. DID YOU GET MY MESSAGE? AS FAR AS I KNOW THIS ROOM IS NOT UNDER SURVEILLANCE SO SPEAK OPENLY."

[Fri]

James does his standard pose (arms crossed, wall, the usual) beside Anne. If you observe carefully, it's clear that he's struggling to find something to say, but otherwise, he's just look as uncaring as usual.

"So, this is the supposedly powerful leader of the American Shifters?" he says without looking directly at Anne. "Still thinking that the commands are unfair?"

[Cubey]

Anne's gaze rises to reach James's. It's still a bit absent, but slowly focuses on him. And the look in her eyes is... not pretty.

But before she can do or say anything, Elizabeth takes a stand between her and James.

"Don't say that." She puts her hands on her hips.
"Everyone learned their lessons today. Teasing about this is pointless, you will only start a fight."

"...ve ... ..ur a...er." Anne mutters under her breath.

"Anne?" Matilda was the closest to her, and looks at the supposed 'leader' with a somewhat terrified expression.

"Give me your amplifier." Anne speaks coldly. Her gaze is absent again and you're not sure who is she talking to.
"Give it to me. I need it."

[Fri]

James looks at Elizabeth's eyes. But he act like he didn't hear what she says.

James shoves Elizabeth and Amanda out of the way and looks at Anne. Not good.

"WHY! WHY DO YOU NEED MY AMPLIFIER?" He says, bolder, harder, as he looks straightly and directly at her eyes, right in front of her.

[Cubey]

"Hey, back off!" Matilda is the one to protest, despite being the only one who was not in James's way and thus was not shoved aside.

"You... don't need it. I need it." Anne's hands try to reach out for James's amplifier - and are suddenly stopped when a strong arm grips one of them. The other arm of this intervening person rests on James's shoulder. It feels heavy, ready to stop you if you try to do anything reckless.

"Don't act pushy." The one who stopped both of you is no one else but Frank Symes. He's looking most tired you've seen him in a while, perhaps since ever. But he is still calm and composed.
"And he needs his amplifier, so you cannot have it." These words were directed at Anne.
"This was not an easy day, so calm down."

[Fri]

"Let me tell you something, Frank." James continues. He speaks a bit louder than he should, and looking directly at Anne instead of Frank. He's almost shouting, even. "She's RIGHT! I DON'T ACTUALLY NEED THIS FREAKIN AMPLIFIER THAT MUCH. KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT'S JUST A FREAKIN TOOL. EVEN WITHOUT THE AMPLIFIER, I'D FIGHT THOSE CULTIST NUTJOBS AND I'D SAVE MY BEST FRIEND. I HAVE MY OWN STRENGTH WITHOUT MY AMPLIFIER. I'D JOIN THE MSAS. IF THEY WON'T LET ME, I'LL RAISE HELL WITHOUT SECT.

BUT I WON'T DO THAT AND I CAN'T DO THAT. BECAUSE THIS IS MY RESPONSIBILITY. I HAVE THIS SOPHIUM INFUSION INSIDE MY BLOOD AND I'M ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE THAT CAN USE THIS. EVEN IF I WANTED TO GIVE IT TO HER AND SIMPLY FIGHT THE CULTIST USING YOUR MSAS, I CAN'T DO THAT.

LIKE IT OR NOT, EVEN IF I LOST THIS, THEY'LL FIND A WAY TO GIVE ME A NEW ONE SOONER OR LATER BECAUSE I'M SO DAMN RARE. PEOPLE LIKE ME, LIKE HER, ONES THAT CAN USE THE AMPLIFIER ARE SO DAMN RARE. I'LL JUST FREAKIN TRAIN AND PREPARE MYSELF SO I WON'T LOSE IT AGAIN."

He punches the wall beside anne so hard that dusts flies from it. "If you're sure you're worth this amplifier more than me, find me later and prove it." He then brushes frank's hand, and walks toward patricia's room without looking back.

[Cubey]

James's actions leaves everyone either speechless (the Americans, especially Anne) or without anything to say (Frank). Nobody tries to stop him to say anything as he moves towards Patricia's room.

Wonder what results will this have in the future...

[Tengu_temp]

I don't like hospitals. The atmosphere is so depressing... And they're filled with authoritative doctors and nurses who are happiest when you stay in bed for days and do nothing, your plans and hobbies be damned.
Despite her thoughts, Emi actually feels better here than on the battlefield - the fact that she's no longer surrounded with corpses might have something to do with that. She heads straight for Patricia's room, so she's not there to witness James' conversation.
"Hello. I... have two things I want to ask about." Emi seems to hesitate a little, but she's actually recomposing herself. She's glad to see the woman she's looking up to alive, but on the other hand it's heartbreaking to see her in such a state. And she's not the only one.
What if Akiho won't be able to walk again? She's so energetic and will have to spend all her life in a chair... No! I mustn't think about that!
Emi takes a deep breath.
"The first thing I have to ask is... What happened to you after we thought you died, Patricia-san? You said you're not sure, but there must be something you remember. And the second topic is what I said I'll ask about before: what did the SE tell you?"

[Drascin]

Andy's reaction, however, is more of exasperation (and a little smile), but he's obviously not surprised. Indeed, someone as much of a geek as him is certainly knowledgeable of this particular brand of motivation, which he calls the Bright Noa Methodology. Sometimes, you just have to slap the stupid out of people, physically or verbally.

However, perhaps a good cop is needed.

"Well, that was a bit harsh, but he's right, you know" he pipes up, calmly. He's managed to push most of his concerns aside for a while. He knows all the nightmares of today will come back toniight, but for now, he focuses on the moment. "This" He lifts his amplifier nonchalantly "is just a tool. It's not important. An apt comparison... you could compare it to a key, in many ways. But it's nothing more, nothing you should get attached to. Yes, we need our keys to get home, but SECT can make you a duplicate. Sometimes we forget it's not the key that matters, that a key is just a pointy lump of metal. It's what's inside the chest it opens that should matter - not the key, and not the chest" Even emotionally exhausted and sad as he is, Andy manages a joking half-grin. "Sorry for the philosophy rant, but you should really think on all this. And on the real reason you're so angry right now. James meant well. Later" and with that and a gesture, he says goodbye to the group and heads for Patricia's room.

[Cubey]

Waiting room:
Andy's words do not fall on deaf ears - Anne's reaction is, like mentioned earlier, shocked surprise. But, Akira seems genuinely inspired by his speech. The only thing that prevents him from saying things like "Wow, that was so cool!" is decorum of staying quiet in a hospital. But you can just read it from his face.


Later, Patricia's room:
"STRAIGHT TO THE POINT I SEE. VERY WELL." Miss Heinrich stops writing for a bit. Is it a dramatic pause, or does she just rest her fingers before a longer sentence?
"AFTER MY DEATH I WOKE UP IN A COLD ROOM ON THE STATION. I SAY DEATH BECAUSE THE SE KILLED ME. MY LIFE FUNCTIONS WERE NONEXISTANT AND I WAS IN NO CONDITION TO BE REANIMATED LIKE YOU WITNESSED YOURSELF. HOWEVER I WAS ALIVE AND MY WOUNDS WERE NOT SO SERIOUS ONCE I WOKE UP. I WAS PARALYSED AND BARELY FUNCTIONING AND REMAIN SO TO THIS DAY EVEN IF IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THAT." There's an amused twinkle in her eyes, but it could be just the light reflecting off the glasses.
"BUT I WAS ALIVE. MY HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE SE'S PRESENCE SOMEHOW RESTORED ME AS ITS BROKEN PIECES WERE FLOATING AROUND WITH MY BROKEN BODY IN THE SAME ROOM."

"THIS IS IT FOR YOUR FIRST QUESTION. TIME FOR THE SECOND ONE THEN. THE SE DID NOT USE WORDS BUT FEELINGS AND CONCEPTS BUT THE SENSE BEHIND ITS MESSAGE IS AS FOLLOWS. WE SHOULD LIE DOWN AND ACCEPT OUR FATE. IF IT MEANS DYING BY THE SE'S HANDS THEN WE SHOULD DIE. YES THIS MEANS THE SE ARE AWARE THAT THEIR ACTIONS WILL CAUSE DEATH TO THE HUMAN RACE. IT ALSO SAID THAT IF WE ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH OUR FATE THEN WE SHOULD REVERT IT BY PROVING OUR WORTH AS A WHOLE."

"THIS PROVING IS RELATED TO THE VIDEO MESSAGE I HAVE LEFT FOR YOU. YOU OF COURSE DID TAKE A LOOK AT IT HAVE YOU NOT?"

[kamikasei]

Cat gives the Japanese Shifters comforting words of little consequence. Besides not knowing what to say, she's aware that what's said isn't the important thing at times like this. She lets the more eloquent speak their parts, and plays her role by simply being present in case Akira or Takeshi need someone to vent at. In turn, she's pleasantly surprised that James' baiting of Anne defuses itself, or at least burns itself out, so quickly without setting off anything further.

She follows Andy in to Patricia's room. Indeed, she's pretty much been sticking to him since they left the mountainside. The reason isn't hard to work out - if an awkward situation arises, he can soak up the confusion much better than she could cope on her own.

[Fri]

"Still haven't answered the biggest question though. What are they and what are they doing here." James pops out.

"Anyway as I asked previously Todd. What went wrong with your last attempt of communicating with that SE? Hmh, this whole mess made us forgot our important tradition. Naming it, heheh.

And patricia, what were you doing out there in that giant armor? Are the SECT so lacking in personel that they must send a half-dead operator into the front line instead of properly taking care of you?"

[Tengu_temp]

"So the SEs aren't just animals that attack humans on instinct or because they're afraid. They're intentionally malicious. And they encourage us to fight them back if we perceive them as a threat." Surprise and disbelief ring in Emi's words.
That's... too easy, too convenient! There must be some secret here, some hidden, second meaning to this conflict!

"Yes, we have seen the video recording." Emi nods. "It was... very touching. One of the bravest, most heroic acts I've ever seen in my life."

[Cubey]

"THE SE DID NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT IT IS OR WHY IS IT DOING WHAT IT IS. WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE BUT OUR SPECULATIONS HAVE A SOLID BASE NOW. AS FOR ME I HAVE VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS. NOBODY ELSE IS CAPABLE OF PILOTING THE GAIA SUIT."
Patricia is not even bragging. She just stated a fact.

"YOU MISUNDERSTOOD ME EMI KUROKAWA. THE SE DO NOT WANT US TO OPPOSE THEM. YOU HAVE SEEN THE RECORDING AND I BELIEVE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE AUDIO DISC I AD AT MY SIDE AS WELL. SPEAKING OF WHICH IT SEEMS TO HAVE MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED."

"Not anymore. Ta-dah." Sara shows the tiny disc, produced from one of her pockets. She was responsible for carrying it, after all.

"VERY WELL. IN THAT CASE YOU ARE AWARE OF THE PREVIOUS TEAM'S FATE. THEY HAVE SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES TO ACTIVATE A MYSTERIOUS OBJECT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO STOP THE SE INVASION. THIS IS WHAT THE SE WANT YOU TO DO. SACRIFICE A FEW LIVES TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE. THIS IS APPARENTLY THEIR DEFINITION OF A RACE'S MATURITY."

Patricia Heinrich stops explaining for a bit. Is she expecting you to comment on that revelation?

[Drascin]

"So basically they're humongous holier-than-thou psychos and complete retards. Figures" Andy says, despective. "So "we're going to thow a tantrum and kill you all until you do what we want", and they have the gall to call others immature? Hah. Not to mention, last team already did that and yet they're back. So they aren't even able to keep their word".

[Cubey]

"NO I BELIEVE THE SE WOULD KEEP THEIR WORD. THE REASON WHY THEY ATTACK IS DIFFERENT." Miss Heinrich's hand pauses for a second, and does a limited movement that could be interpreted as an attempt of clenching a fist.
"02B WAS NOT AWARE OF THE SACRIFICE. I ASSUME IT WAS NOT ENOUGH AND MORE PEOPLE OR MORE POWERFUL ONES WOULD HAVE TO KILL THEMSELVES TO STOP THE SE. IT MAKES SENSE CONSIDERING THE DATA WE HAVE. THE FIRST TEAM CAUSED A SHOCKWAVE THAT ELIMINATED SHIFTER POWERS ON EARTH. IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE ELIMINATED SE POWERS AS WELL BUT IT DID NOT REACH ALL OF THEM AS IT WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH. THIS IS MY HYPOTHESIS."

[Matar]

"Anyway as I asked previously Todd. What went wrong with your last attempt of communicating with that SE? Hmh, this whole mess made us forgot our important tradition. Naming it, heheh.

"It's name is Mr. Hugz." Todd nods to himself. "And what went wrong? Uh, maybe Lornes knows for sure. But from what I can tell? It thought I was an SE, and when it touched me, it got all emo girl and wanted to kill me over it."


"VERY WELL. IN THAT CASE YOU ARE AWARE OF THE PREVIOUS TEAM'S FATE. THEY HAVE SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES TO ACTIVATE A MYSTERIOUS OBJECT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO STOP THE SE INVASION. THIS IS WHAT THE SE WANT YOU TO DO. SACRIFICE A FEW LIVES TO SAVE EVERYONE ELSE. THIS IS APPARENTLY THEIR DEFINITION OF A RACE'S MATURITY."

"Well." Todd tries to keep himself together and not blush. Seriously, Todd. What the hell. "Just so long as no one here gets any ideas. I mean, I don't mind risking my life in a fight, but turning myself into a bomb isn't my idea of fun. Besides, for all we know the SE's sense of maturity is -way- off of what ours is. Hell! Maybe they think it'll mean were worthy of... of..."

Todd nudges Andy in the rib cage.

"Sci-Fi reference, dude. I got nothin."

[Tengu_temp]

"Okay, I can see now why did you call the SE a hypocrite, Patricia-san..." Emi looks disgusted. Just because the conflict turned out to have some deeper reasons didn't make her feel better at all. "Sacrificing few to save many is supposed to mean you're mature? And if humans are immature, that means it's okay to kill them? That's so messed-up. But SEs are aliens, so I guess it makes sense their thought process is alien too..."
She always tries to save as many lives as she can, and now some idiot SE thinks that this is stupid and immature, and if she sacrificed herself it'd be even more awesome? Ridiculous.
"We don't have to listen to them. We'll fight them off until they realize they won't beat us, and give up. Protecting those who can't protect themselves from bloodthirsty alien monsters - now that is mature."

[Drascin]

"That's worse" is all Andy says to Patricia's punctualization. "So a group of people, a group of good people, sacrificed themselves to fullfill some arbitrary standard so these things stopped killing us. And after they do, they go "oh, sorry, I was looking another way, didn't notice, you should have made the explosion bigger. Now sacrifice more people to make us a bigger explosion. And a shrubbery, too. Or we'll keep killing you all"." Andy's eyes have hardened.

Todd nudges him, though, getting him down from his cloud. He nods. "Yeah, it's a classic plot for scifi from the classics Q and Vorlons to the really bad examples like anything shown in MST. Aliens come and unilaterally decide humanity is not mature enough, or smart enough, or anything, really. So they either take it onto themselves or exterminate us for being failures. I always wondered who gave them the right to declare themselves gods. I'm thinking the exact same about these now".

[kamikasei]

"I agree with Emi," Cat speaks up. "They don't get to set the terms. They attack us so we'll fight them. You don't make a bully stop by doing what they tell you."

She taps a finger against her amplifier. "Do you know anything about this device, or where the SEs come from? How did you get the recording in the first place?"

[Cubey]

"I SEE WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE. THE SE SET UP ARBITRARY RULES AND VALUES AND EXPECT US TO FOLLOW THEM UNQUESTIONINGLY. IF WE REFUSE THEY GET VIOLENT. I CALL THIS HYPOCRISY OF THE HIGHEST CALIBUR."

"Right! So we'll continue beating up mr Hugz's idiot friends until they go home. Nobody has the right to decide that people just have to die like that!"
Sara is enthusiastic, but it's worrying that Todd's nickname for the latest SE stuck like that.

"YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I ACTIVELY TAKE ARMS AGAINST THE ENEMY THEN. HOWEVER IN A PESSIMISTIC SCENARIO THE FORCE SOLUTION WILL NOT WORK AS IT ASSUMES THE SE ARE ENDLESS IN NUMBERS AND WILL NEVER STOP COMING. WE STILL KNOW TOO LITTLE ABOUT THEM AND THE SE I MADE CONTACT WITH WAS NOT TALKATIVE ON THIS TOPIC."

"WE NEED ALTERNATIVE PLANS. BUT FOR NOW I WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. WHERE DID I FIND THE RECORDING? I WAS THE FIRST TO STUMBLE UPON THE CAVE WHERE THE LAST TEAM PERFORMED THE SACRIFICE. THERE I DISCOVERED THEIR LIFELESS BODIES BUT ALSO THE RECORDING WHICH I HID. I WAS AFRAID SECT WOULD USE THIS METHOD AGAIN IF DRIVEN TO DESPERATION. BUT PERHAPS UNNECESSARILY SO BECAUSE THE CRYSTAL FOCUS THAT THE RECORDING MENTIONS WAS NO LONGER THERE. WHERE IS IT NOW I HAVE NO IDEA BUT THE CAVE IS STILL VERY IMPORTANT. ITS LOCATION IS KEPT A SECRET BUT I WILL TELL YOU WHERE IT IS ANYWAY. ATLAS MOUNTAINS IN AFRICA. I AM A BIT VAGUE AT THE MOMENT BUT YOU MUST REALIZE I CANNOT JUST GET UP AND POINT THE LOCATION ON A MAP IN MY CURRENT CONDITION."

[Tengu_temp]

"Do you know anything about the focus, Patricia-san? For example where did it come from, or how exactly does it work?"
Emi's not the one to fish for information from other people usually, instead letting the rest of the team handle it, but this is a different case: it's Patricia Heinrich they're talking to, possibly the only adult Emi actually looks up too, and everything she has to say is obviously very important.

[Cubey]

"I KNOW NOTHING. NOBODY IN SECT EVEN SUSPECTED THIS CAVE AND THE FOCUS INSIDE TO EXIST UNTIL THE DEED WAS DONE. THERE IS A PERSON WHO MIGHT KNOW MORE HOWEVER AND I SUGGEST YOU ASK HER PERSONALLY."
Although miss Heinrich does not explicitly say the name out, it is obvious whom she means. After all, out of people whose voices were caught in the old recording, there is only one person yet still alive. But getting any info out of Devon is not an easy task at all.

[Haven]

"It's name is Mr. Hugz." Todd nods to himself. "And what went wrong? Uh, maybe Lornes knows for sure. But from what I can tell? It thought I was an SE, and when it touched me, it got all emo girl and wanted to kill me over it."[/COLOR

Lorne shakes his head. "All I know is what you relayed to me. It was..." He pauses. "An experience." One which I still have no idea what to make of it...

Lorne listens quietly through Patricia's account, fascinated. When she mentions that the shockwave would have taken away their abilities, he glances over to Sara to see her reaction. Maybe I was wrong to dismiss her earlier speculation..."quantum entanglement" might not be quite the right way to put it, but it's possible she was on to something.

"Patricia, thank you for this information. The account you have given us...it changes a lot of things. If you don't mind, could you elaborate on what basis you hypothesize that it could have reached them? The difference between covering all of Earth and reaching wherever the space SEs come from seems to be several orders of magnitude...which makes me think there's something very basic, yet vital, that we don't know here.

"As for talking to Devon...I have to admit, it's not impossible to get information out of her, but mostly only when she volunteers. Personally...I think we should visit the Atlas Mountains ourselves. We might be able to find some information about the crystal, which seems fundamental to bringing this to a close."

[Cubey]

Sara did not seem too traumatized by Patricia's revelations. In fact, she looks more excited. Maybe it just didn't occur to her that she might lose her power if the SEs were to be stopped?

"CERTAINLY. AS YOU SAID THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE OF DISTANCE BETWEEN REACHING ALL OF EARTH AND WHATEVER ANGELIC HELLHOLE THE SE ARE EMERGING FROM." Patricia Heinrich is answering Lorne's questions, and it seems she's in mood for some poetic descriptions, too.
"WHICH IS WHY I SPECULATE THE SACRIFICE WAS NOT ENOUGH. SHOULD IT HAVE BEEN THEN THE SHOCKWAVE'S RANGE WOULD HAVE BEEN SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LONGER. AND WHY DO I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A SOLUTION IN THE FIRST PLACE? THE SE KNOW ABOUT THE FOCUSING CRYSTAL THAT WAS USED AND POINT AT IT AS THE WAY OF PROVING HUMANITY'S WORTH. FOR ME IT IS OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS PLANTED FOR THIS REASON ALONE. SO THAT SOMEONE FINDS IT AND USES IT IN DRAMATIC A MASS SELF-SACRIFICE."

[Fri]

"I wonder..." James says with hand on his chin. "Does the Thought of Ascenscion know something about this? I'm not talking about the details, I'm talking about whether they got the slightest idea about this. Or, might they even know something that we don't know? The grunts, the brainwashed mass, of course they don't know anything. But I wonder whether their higher ups know something. Who the heck are their higher ups. How did they got started I wonder?"

[Haven]

"So they expect us to play out a macabre drama? The measure of our worth in their eyes is how well we conform to the roles they've assigned us?" He looks like he's about to get worked up about this, but stops himself, and adjusts his glasses.

"No offense, but I'm skeptical. I can accept that they are sentient--Todd and I have ample proof that they are feeling beings--but I'm still not sure they're thinking ones, much less ones with such a taste for theater. Still, I will keep in mind the model you present, and see if it makes any useful explanations. If nothing else it gives me another reason to think that we absolutely should not use the crystal--not the way they intended. We're not going to play their game, because..."

He takes a moment to collect himself.

"Nothing--no substance, no element--has one use and one use only. If it can do that, it must have amazing properties that we can use against them. Or perhaps we can find another way to power the shockwave. In any case, we should do what we can to track down the focus and study it, it could be the key to a decisive victory."

[Matar]

"No offense, but I'm skeptical. I can accept that they are sentient--Todd and I have ample proof that they are feeling beings--but I'm still not sure they're thinking ones, much less ones with such a taste for theater. Still, I will keep in mind the model you present, and see if it makes any useful explanations. If nothing else it gives me another reason to think that we absolutely should not use the crystal--not the way they intended. We're not going to play their game, because..."

"Yeah, y'know." Todd pauses for a moment. "I have to agree with Lorne here. I mean, they have feelings and stuff but saying that they "think" is pushing it. I mean, maybe the Space SE's are different or something, but the Earth SE thought I was the space one until it touched me, remember? And like, it didn't do **** until then."

Todd pauses for a moment.

"I mean, uh. I'm not calling you a liar or anything. It just seems... off compared to how the SE acted to me, is all."


"Nothing--no substance, no element--has one use and one use only. If it can do that, it must have amazing properties that we can use against them. Or perhaps we can find another way to power the shockwave. In any case, we should do what we can to track down the focus and study it, it could be the key to a decisive victory."

"If we have to we can power it with pure youthful passion! It's power is so great that not even death will dare come close to us!"

[Cubey]

"I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH AND I AM SURE I REMEMBERED IT CORRECTLY. IF THE SE YOU TALKED WITH HAD A SIMPLER MESSAGE TO TELL YOU THEN THE MOST STRAIGHTFORWARD EXPLANATION IS THIS. EVERY SE HAS A DIFFERENT MIND AND GOALS."

"If Hugz wanted only to touch Todd... urgh! That sounds wrong. Let me try that again." Sara shivers.
"If it wanted only to make contact with the Space SE then maybe it was the dumb muscle of the pair and that non-Cartesian cylinder was the brains?"

"NO MATTER WHAT IS THE ROLE SET UP FOR US BY THE SE I REFUSE TO PLAY INTO IT TOO. WE WILL FIND A WAY TO DEFEAT THEM IN OUR OWN TERMS."

It seems Patricia Heinrich told you more or less everything she had to say - of course, if you still have questions for her than you can ask her further, and maybe some more details will pop up.

If anyone of you waits until you can visit the wounded Japanese team members, then you receive a permission not long after.

[Drascin]

He takes a moment to collect himself.

"Nothing--no substance, no element--has one use and one use only. If it can do that, it must have amazing properties that we can use against them. Or perhaps we can find another way to power the shockwave. In any case, we should do what we can to track down the focus and study it, it could be the key to a decisive victory."

Andy nods. "I was going to say the exact same thing myself. That thing obviously has some interesting properties in interacting with Shifters and SEs. I'm sure we can think of something to do with it that doesn't imply playing the role of actors in the macabre theater of these things"

[Cubey]

"YES." A very laconic comment from the bed-ridden miss Heinrich. But it's followed by more words, so it's not that she got lazy or tired and stopped writing altogether.

"THIS THING IS A VERY IMPORTANT ITEM. YOU MUST RETRIEVE IT IF YOU FIND IT. WHERE COULD IT BE? MY THEORY IS THAT DEVON HAS IT."

[Drascin]

For all response, Andy scrunches his nose with his fingers, obviously this close to facepalming.

"Oh boy. That's going to be a massive cluster**** if there ever was one". He dreads having to talk to Devon, but it looks like there's no other choice. "Can we at least tell Laura all this? She's the only one Devon ever listens to. But I'm not sure how detailing all this to her would affect her... God, this is so complicated, and I'm so tired" he sighs.

[kamikasei]

Cat lays a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Will we be able to visit you again? There's so much to ask, and we shouldn't tire you out." She's no happier than the others to hear that Devon is their next lead, but that's something they can worry about on their own time, and after some sleep.

She hesitates before asking the next question, but spits it out. "And... do you really think SECT might want to use the device again? Was it their idea the first time?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Can we at least tell Laura all this? She's the only one Devon ever listens to. But I'm not sure how detailing all this to her would affect her... God, this is so complicated, and I'm so tired" he sighs.

"I think that will hurt her, because of her memories... But not hurt as much as when she learns that we looked for something important and didn't ask for her help where it would've been very useful. So I think it's better if we ask her..." Emi doesn't sound convinced about her own words. Laura is the most compassionate and emotionally fragile of them all, after all - she must be in the worst state after the battle.
"And if we recover the focus, we need to be extra careful with it. It might become the key to defeating the SEs, but I don't want if it makes any of us lose their power by accident. Or, even worse, life..."

Emi doesn't have any more questions of her own, for the moment at least, but she'll wait for everyone else to leave before doing so herself. Is she going to see how the wounded Japanese Shifters are doing after that? Yes. Even if she'll see something she doesn't want to see, it's better than worrying.

[Cubey]

"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE. I WILL PROBABLY GET A TRANSFER TO HQ EVENTUALLY SO COME VISIT ANYTIME." Patricia gives you an invitation, almost like the base psychologist. But of course, everyone's circumstances are a tiny bit different.

"TELL ABOUT THIS TO WHOMEVER YOU WANT. I BELIEVE NOBODY IN SECT KNOWS DETAILS ABOUT THE SACRIFICE EXCEPT FOR ME. ADAM AND HIS FRIENDS ACTED OUT OF THEIR OWN WILL WITHOUT ANYONE'S KNOWLEDGE. BUT I WARN AGAINST TELLING CLAYTON AS EVEN THOUGH I CANNOT SEE HIM ORDERING ANYONE TO KILL THEMSELVES TO STOP THE SE HIS SUPERIORS JUST MIGHT DO THAT ANYWAY. BE ON THE SAFE SIDE."

========

When you return from Patricia's room and receive a permission to see the wounded ones, the waiting room is already empty. Akira and Takeshi went to visit their friends as you soon discover, and so did Laura. The Americans and Frank went in their own ways.

Akiho, Kazuma and Usagi are all resting in one ward. Surprisingly, the latter's wounds seem to be the lightest, as her bed is not surrounded by a lot of diagnostic or life-supporting machines, and she is even conscious.

"Good... afternoon." She says quietly. Although she is not as injured as her friends, Usagi still has one arm and one leg immobilized by splints and her torso is heavily bandaged.

The others fare much worse. Kazuma has the most life-supporting machines around himself, and breathes under an air mask. As for Akiho, both of her arms and one of the legs are in heavy casts. Neither of them are conscious.

"Please forgive me. Miura-san... I..." Akira is at a loss for words, while Takeshi just broods under a wall, observing his unconscious teammates with an unhappy expression.

As for Laura... she is surprisingly composed, looking only moderately uneasy and saddened.
"Oh, you came. Please don't be loud. They will all need a lot of rest." She explains. Her voice is shaky. Could it be that the composition is just an act and she desperately tries not to break down?

[Tengu_temp]

"I'll keep that in mind." As obvious for anyone who knows her better, Emi didn't plan to tell the commander anyway.

---

When Emi later goes to check on the wounded Japanese Shifters, she immediately starts to regret this decision when she enters the room. The atmosphere is heavy, and Kazuma and Akiho are in a terrible state. Emi finds herself incapable of saying anything beyond a quiet "Hi..." - what would she talk about anyway, and with whom? She can just stare at the wounded sadly.
You will be okay, right? Right? If Akiho turns out to be crippled, I'll never forgive myself - I failed to protect her...

[kamikasei]

Cat knows how to behave herself in a hospital, and her voice is appropriately quiet. "Have the doctors been by? Said anything?"

[Cubey]

"Y... yes." Laura responds to Cat's inquiry.
"The doctor said that force was distributed evenly on affected surfaces, so there won't be any... lasting damage... to internal organs..." The pauses and a shaky voice betray that she's obviously more stressed than she shows.
"But there's a lot of broken bones, limbs and ribs... and they will take months to heal completely. Months, if there won't be any complications."

[Drascin]

Andy simply smiles at Cat at her supportive gesture, too emotionally subdued and exhausted to even get a bit flustered as he usually would. But it's that same exhaustion that makes the gratitude inherent in the expression all the more sincere.


"I think that will hurt her, because of her memories... But not hurt as much as when she learns that we looked for something important and didn't ask for her help where it would've been very useful. So I think it's better if we ask her..." Emi doesn't sound convinced about her own words. Laura is the most compassionate and emotionally fragile of them all, after all - she must be in the worst state after the battle.
"And if we recover the focus, we need to be extra careful with it. It might become the key to defeating the SEs, but I don't want if it makes any of us lose their power by accident. Or, even worse, life..."

Andy nods. "Point. And she has the right to know, after all. We'll mention it to her, then. But not today. And yes, whatever that focus is, will have to be handled with extreme care. That means you, Todd" he adds, smirking tiredly, before turning serious again. "But we need to find out what the crystal is. I have this hunch it's far, far more than a prop for the sickest theater play ever"

He waves goodbye at Patricia. "See you later, then. And don't worry, we didn't intend to tell Clayton anyway. Dude's decent, but from the looks of it his bosses got him by the balls and there's not much he can do" Andy smiles weakly.

And after that, the group goes see the Japanese kids.

---------------------

At the scene, Andy can say nothing. It's just not right to open his mouth right now, with the two sleepers there, hurt to unbelievable extents. He looks intensely at them, worrying - what if the damage is permanent?

...Thankfully, Laura can dissipate that, reducing Andy's tension a lot. "Whew. If that's true, I'm happy. Five months of strict bed rest are a crappy thing, but given the alternatives here... I'm just happy there'll not be lasting consequences"

[Tengu_temp]

It must be terrible to be stuck in a bed for months... Such a huge limitation on your freedom. How much time needs to pass before you go crazy from boredom and not even being able to move out of the bed on your own? Emi starts to feel even more sorry for the poor Akiho, Kazuma and Usagi.
"And if there are complications...?"

[Cubey]

"I don't know. I'm sorry..." Laura enters her depressed apologetic mode again.

"Five people died today. I... I feel guilty, even if I wasn't there and couldn't do anything. But I was there and I could do something, when these three were wounded. I'm giving a terrible example as a senior Shifter..." She mutters to herself rather than to anyone in particular. Only those closest to her can hear exactly what she's talking about.

[Tengu_temp]

"At least you tried to stop the SE and almost succeeded, unlike some people." Emi does not miss the opportunity to join in on the self-deprecation time. "And by some people, I mean me. Akiho was right next to me, and I completely failed to protect her..."
She raises her hand and looks at it.
"Why aren't my healing abilities any help here? Why can I only cure small cuts and bruises and keep people from dying until real doctors take a look at them? It's so frustrating, not being able to do anything..."

[kamikasei]

"You saved their lives," Cat points out to Emi. Since they're under instructions not to be loud her voice is soft, but the look she gives her is sharp. "Things would probably be much worse if it weren't for both of you."

Of course, there's more to it than that. As far as Cat's concerned, they all screwed up by not being more careful and putting one another's safety above attacking the SE. She knows on her part it had been a well-intentioned desire to end the battle more quickly by focusing on offense, but the injured Japanese Shifters are a pretty visceral object lesson in how high the stakes are and how little margin of error they have.

But that's all something to discuss later. For now, Emi and Laura need to focus on what they did right.

[Tengu_temp]

"I know. And there were many other people whose lives I saved. And I bet Laura saved even more of them. But..." Emi sighs. "If I didn't mess up, Akiho at the very least would not need saving. Because of my mistake she's going to be bed-ridden for months now, and I can't do anything about it. I wish I could fix all my mistakes. But Genesis doesn't have that kind of power..."

[Drascin]

For all response, Andy gives both Emi and Laura a light bonk on the head, deadpan. "Yeah, and I'd like to be able to prevent anyone from ever being hurt, but I'm not God, and neither are you. You two alone did more than everyone else put together today. Stop kicking yourselves down already for not being omniscient and all-powerful" he says softly.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"He's right. You can't stop everyone from dying. I don't even think you made any mistakes. You made a decision in the heat of battle on the field based on the information you had at the time. What happens after that you can only influence so much. If you start second-guessing yourselves now, you'll just do worse the next time. You two did good today. The Japanese team is still alive. We won. So cut it out with the pity party already, alright?" Ben said as he approached Andy, Laura, Cat, and Emi. "As far as I'm concerned, the only mistake we made was letting Todd try to talk to that thing. We all knew how that would turn out."

[kamikasei]

"How about you, Miura-san?" Cat asks quietly, changing the subject - she doesn't want to get in to Ben's issues at the moment - and hoping she's addressing the injured girl correctly. How well does Usagi understand English, anyway? Well, even if Emi has to translate it'll be something to distract her.

[Cubey]

"Well..." Laura absent-mindedly touches her head, where Andy bonked it. But it seems she does not have any reply more coherent than that.

"Yeah. The SE is dead and we're not. Mission accomplished, full victory. Don't worry about things that were outside your sphere of influence!" Sara joins the supportive voices in the group.

"I'm sorry that we must talk like this." Usagi seems incapable of having an English conversation, and someone has to translate - if it's not Emi, then Akira will be the (reluctant) translator.
"I do not hold grudges against anyone for how I am now. It's nobody's fault but the SE. We should be happy that nothing worse came from this." As far as you can tell, Usagi believes in what she said.
"I only regret not being able to help from now on."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Hey, don't worry about it, Usagi. You'll be back on your feet in no time. The only thing you guys should be concentrating on is getting better. We'll throw a party for you when you get back." Ben grinned, laying a hand on the bed next to Usagi since he didn't want to give a brotherly pat on an injured shoulder or broken foot.

[Tengu_temp]

"I know, I know." Emi recoils slightly from the bonk - she's not used to things like that. "But so many people have died or got hurt today, and it's only by a stroke of luck that nobody we know is in the former category, only the latter. I think you can see that I have the right not to feel all sunny and cheerful in this situation, right?" On the bright side, she doesn't sound so sad anymore. On the dark side, the free space left by regret gets filled with annoyance instead.
Emi doesn't feel like translating right now, so Akira will have to do it in her place.

[kamikasei]

"Ah," Cat looks startled, "that's good, but I just meant have they told you how long you'll need to stay? Like Ben says, we'll have to welcome you back when you get discharged."

She looks over at Emi, but decides she's best left alone for now.

[Cubey]

"Ah, that's what you meant. Sorry, sorry..." Akira has a flustered expression. His embarassment overshadows even the sadness at the current situation.

"No, I should apologize for voicing my opinion when it was not requested." Usagi says once Akira starts to translate again.
"I do not know when I can leave, but it should take no more than a few days. My wounds are light, unlike those of Ishi-san and Yama****a-san."

[Tengu_temp]

Yeah, apologize for speaking anything when not requested, doing anything when not requested, existing when not requested. Thanks for reminding me why I don't like you. Emi feels bad for having this bitter thought. She's fine, after all, while Usagi almost died. Let's go with something else to banish it.
"I think Akiho and Takeshi will be transported to a hospital in Japan sooner or later, so could you tell us when they get better?" Nobody's going to be so cruel to keep two teenagers bed-ridden in a place where they can't understand anyone for months, right?

[Cubey]

"I will inform you right away when that happens. It's a promise." Usagi is agreeable enough. These words seemed a bit warmer than her usual distant attitude, but it could be just a mistaken impression.


"Hello. Can I have your attention?" Not long after (assuming you don't do anything else concerning the hospital visit), there's a call from mission control.
"The Commander decided that since everyone is tired, you should rest at local quarters and return to HQ the next day. We already have lodging prepared for you. It's safe and comfortable so try to relax and not too worry too much. You had a long day."
She is trying to sound warm and encouraging - mimicking her psychologist sister, perhaps? One way or the other, once your business in the hospital is done, you are shown a way towards small buildings that probably serve as temporary quarters for visitors. They are located right by the hospital so there is not a need to walk around much, and there's SECT guards and other personnel around.

Is there anything you are going to do for the rest of the day? It's still early afternoon, but today's events made the day stretch out into what seems a much longer period of time. And then there's the issue of PSA-induced fatigue.

In case you want to talk with peopel: Laura looks thoughtful and concerned. You have no idea where everyone else is (Frank, or maybe the American shifters), but they should be around.

[Tengu_temp]

"Thank you." Emi feels like there's nothing she has left to say or do here. She waits a short while to see if anyone has anything to tell her, then leaves.

Emi receives the message from mission control less than enthusiastically.
Rest here? Why? Can't we rest on the plane back home? I want to go to my room... Despite her inner grumping, she heads to the resting area set for them, locks herself up in one of the rooms and lies down on the bed. Finally alone, she can let her emotions flow freely, but she's crying much less than she thought she would - perhaps because she's simply too tired, physically and emotionally. Emi slowly falls asleep, and since it's late afternoon it means she'll probably wake up sometime in the night.

[Fri]

James doesn't say anything at the Japanese team's room. He feels bad about it, he think that he should say something. but it's just he didn't interact with them that much back then. He regrets it now.

He feels tired. Really tired. Like someone that had killed a lot of people.

He finds a room, and instantly crashes on the bed, not getting up until it's time to go back to base.

[kamikasei]

Early afternoon it may be, but back on Seeberg it's nearly midnight and Cat is exhausted. She's planning to find a bed, lie more or less on it, and not move for about ten hours. Sure, she'll wake up in the small hours of the morning, but she can deal with a few hours of darkness here before the flight back for the sake of minimizing her jetlag.

Before she can let herself turn in, though, she has an obligation she feels she needs to take care of, one that she'd already been putting off. She finds Frank, or someone from the MSAS squads, or a medic, or really anyone who can tell her. Who were the troopers killed by the SE before they arrived?

There are unlikely to be any shocking revelations... but she feels she should know. And now is probably the best time to find out. She doesn't want her subconscious to be speculating on it when she tries to get to sleep, and there's nothing else she needs to do that the knowledge might distract her from.

So she asks, and she finds out. And she heads to her room.

On the way, if he hadn't accompanied her, she finds Andy.

"You know," she says after a moment. It's quite clear how drained she is, but she's also clearly thinking carefully about what to say rather than just being too tired to speak. "You're probably beating yourself up like Emi and Laura about what happened out there. But just so you know, when everything was going to hell, the reason I could keep my head was that I saw you keeping yours. For what it's worth." She looks him in the eye. "Just thought you should know."

She walks past him in to her room with a gesture that starts out trying to be a goodbye wave, but when the motion becomes too much for her weary muscles becomes a simple raising of the arm and a half-pat, half-brush on his shoulder.

[Matar]

Todd stays quite during most of the hospital visit. What could he say, really? It was too soon for an inspirational speech. He had the feeling that they were strong enough to not need one anyways.

Todd, unlike the others, is not all that tired. He had been training like mad to stay in armor for long period of times, and his youthful stamina was amazing. Instead he made his way to where Lorne was staying, and gave a knock at his door.

"Hey, Boss? You awake?"

[Drascin]

"Hello. Can I have your attention?" Not long after (assuming you don't do anything else concerning the hospital visit), there's a call from mission control.
"The Commander decided that since everyone is tired, you should rest at local quarters and return to HQ the next day. We already have lodging prepared for you. It's safe and comfortable so try to relax and not too worry too much. You had a long day."
She is trying to sound warm and encouraging - mimicking her psychologist sister, perhaps? One way or the other, once your business in the hospital is done, you are shown a way towards small buildings that probably serve as temporary quarters for visitors. They are located right by the hospital so there is not a need to walk around much, and there's SECT guards and other personnel around.

"Yeah, a bed is looking really appealing right now" Andy says, managing a half-smile. Really, he's not all that exhausted physically - he can take a lot, and he has a lot of stamina, both in and out of armor, from spending his last days learning to summon weapons. But he can feel his brain doing that whirring sound of emotional overload, and he really, really needs to clear his head right now before he snaps on someone.

So with that, he heads to his room, accompanying Cat since the rooms are rather nearby to one another, and stoping along the way with her to find the names of the killed soldiers.


"You know," she says after a moment. It's quite clear how drained she is, but she's also clearly thinking carefully about what to say rather than just being too tired to speak. "You're probably beating yourself up like Emi and Laura about what happened out there. But just so you know, when everything was going to hell, the reason I could keep my head was that I saw you keeping yours. For what it's worth." She looks him in the eye. "Just thought you should know."

Now, if Andy had heard that from most people, he'd smile, say thanks, and fire a compliment or two back.

Cat, however, is most emphatically not most people. Hearing something like that from Cat is certainly enough to send his already taxed and on-the-verge-of-exploding brain into total lock-up from a conflicting mix of utter surprise, pride, embarrasment, happiness, and the gods know what else.

"I... um... really?" he manages to stammer, caught completely off-guard. Hell, if Cat pays attention, he might have even blushed a little bit, and Andy barely ever blushes. This only makes what he's feeling even more obvious, but thankfully he's still too out of it to notice. "Um... happy to help..." he waves at her as she gets into his room.

Then a few seconds later, after she closes his door, he bonks himself on the forehead strongly. Happy to help? What the hell, me? That's all I can muster? That was a perfect opportunity!. He heads to his room, arguing with himself all the while. People died today. People I know killed today! What am I doing obsessing over how Cat praised me? says one viewpoint. Yeah, except you felt flutters in your stomach when you heard that. Don't try to deny it. Hell, the rush was enough to wake you up, look at you arguing with yourself when a second ago you could barely think! What does that make you? says another. Well, I like her. It's only normal! he defends himself from his own conscience.

Andy falls on his bed face down with a fwhumping sound. Sometimes having an analytical mind, an overactive conscience, and a tendency to reason with yourself and take yourself to task, really, really sucks.

**** this, I need sleep.

And with that he closes his eyes, and let's himself be carried off by the blessed peace of sleep. He can think on all this tomorrow.

[Cubey]

Cat manages to find Frank Symes. He's standing in a corridor, talking with someone.

That someone is Anne. They both interrupt once they see you.

"Soldiers who died today are not someone you know. They were not stationed at the headquarters." Frank explains once inquired. He does not look pained, maybe a little bit - he's probably used to things like this happening.
"In hindsight, performing armed scouting in MSASes was a serious tactical error."
And that's all he has to say on the topic. As for Anne, she stays quiet for now - but she looks much better than before. She's neither an unreacting living dummy nor a nervous wreck, she just looks determined but conflicted. It's almost like if she recuperated completely.

It's ironic how her current expression resembles not Devon whom she admires, but a person who while close to her, is almost the complete opposite in personality...

[kamikasei]

Cat manages the titanic effort of actually undressing and getting in to the bed rather than just falling face first on to it. The next thing she's aware of, she's waking with a start and it's pitch black outside. It feels like she was startled awake by a nightmare, but she can't remember it or anything else she might have dreamed, and seems to have slept pretty well.

She checks her phone - a little after one AM. But it's the morning back at base, and she doesn't want to sleep again and get thrown off kilter, never mind that she isn't tired any more anyway. What can you do at one AM in Medford? She gets dressed (in clean clothes if she has any with her) and goes looking for anyone else who's awake, to find out.

[Tengu_temp]

1 AM is just the time to encounter a wild Emi. She's wearing the same clothes as before (no, she didn't sleep in them), and she doesn't look as depressed as before - instead she's looking in the window with an absent-minded (one could even say "way out there") look on her face.
"Oh. Hey." She looks over her shoulder at Cat and smiles sadly. "I want to go out. Interested in joining in?"

[kamikasei]

"Out?" Cat looks dubious. "If they'll let us, I guess. I could do with a walk. Did you have something in mind?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Nah, I don't have anything specific in mind. I don't know this city, after all. Let's just look around, find some interesting spots." There's something worrying about Emi's voice and expression. "And don't worry. If they don't let us out, we can simply Shift through the walls."

[kamikasei]

"I'll keep that in mind." Cat passes lightly over that dangerous comment. "Let's see if any of the others are awake. Unless you didn't want company...?"

[Tengu_temp]

"I don't mind. If anyone else wants to come, they're free to do so." Emi's attention returns to the window.

Maybe Lorne will come... How long was it since we talked together? Less than a day, actually, but it feels like ages to Emi.

[kamikasei]

"Right. I'll see who's around." Does Emi want to accompany her, or just stare out the window until they're ready to leave? Cat can't tell. The other girl is behaving pretty oddly.

Well, she'll do as she said and see who's awake, anyway. Checking common areas and corridors first, she doesn't knock or disturb anyone who might still be asleep in their rooms, just finds whoever's clearly awake or active. All but one - she does knock on Lorne's door. And if Emi doesn't come with her on her rounds, she first knocks on Andy's door too, to enlist his help in getting Lorne to come. If Emi's upset, he's probably the best one to talk to her. Of course, if those two have to talk, then Andy's probably the best excuse for her to leave them alone, too.

[Drascin]

Andy was having a rather intranquil sleep, so when Cat knocks, he wakes up instantly, startled for a second before his brain kicks into gear. He shakes his head, stretches slightly, and goes for the door, opening it a bit, then whole on seeing Cat.

"Something happen?" he asks, wondering what Cat's doing here at this hour. He's a tad disheveled, though, since he fell asleep in his clothes, so they're all creased, and he's obviously just waken up.

[kamikasei]

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Cat looks genuinely apologetic - it hadn't really occurred to her that others might have had trouble sleeping. "Emi was talking about heading out. Shifting, if they won't officially let us outside. I'm worried she might get in to trouble if we leave her alone, so I thought at least you and Lorne might want to come along."

[Drascin]

Andy stretches openly, smiling. "Eeh, no problem. Wasn't really getting all that good a sleep anyway. Give me five minutes to change into something a bit less messed up and I'm with you". If she agrees, he closes the door, changes quickly, washes his face, and gets back out, all in three minutes flat. "Alright, done. So, where does she intend to go that has you so worried?" he grins. He might not be back to full working order, but it's obvious he's much better off than he was a few hours ago in terms of actual brain function.

[kamikasei]

"Well, that's why I'm worried, she doesn't know. I'm hoping she just wants to get out and get some air. I could do with it myself. But she seems in kind of a weird mood, so I figure it'd be good for Lorne to talk to her." Cat leads Andy towards wherever Lorne'd be bunked. She sighs. "I don't know, she took today pretty hard."

[Drascin]

Andy goes a bit more serious. "Well, today was a hard day, and Emi is... well, softer then you or I. I mean... I like to consider myself levelheaded, and I still think I might be having nightmares for weeks, so I can understand Emi feeling a bit odd..." he says. He then half-grins, obviously trying to un-kill the mood. "But I'm sure we can help her with that. Or rather, Lorne will. That was some good thinking, yeah" he nods. Indeed, he thinks, after something like today, there is nothing more important than reinforcing your ties. Having, in a way, an anchor and a sword in the ideas of the people around you, for when the self demons come howling when you try to sleep.

And with that, they reach Lorne's door. Andy knocks on it, not banging but not too quietly either, fully intending to make sure Lorne is awakened by it.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben couldn't sleep, but he wasn't sure he felt like being social even if the others had wanted to come and get him. So he took to wandering the hallways in a daze of thought. He couldn't help but think about the last battle, going through all of it in his head, seeing his shortcomings and mistakes...as well as how much he hadn't been able to mesh with the others. It was strange...in their battles before he'd always been or always seen himself on the front line, attacking and attacking without any need for help from the others. He had told himself that it was just his style to stay apart from them...but he'd never seen the difference between them until just recently.

The others were much more forgiving than he was...soft, even. Especially when it came to the SE and the Ascenders. Ben didn't want to kill them, but this was a war...if he didn't put them down then they'd continue to hurt people. The SE's were monsters. You didn't talk to monsters. You annihilated them until there wasn't a single cell of them left to stain the planet. Yet when they went up against the SE's and the Ascenders someone always insisted on talking things out. Ben's fists clenched. Why couldn't any of his teammates see that giving their enemies the benefit of the doubt would only lead to more of their allies in hospital beds...or worse, the morgue.

What's worse, the team was disorganized. They needed a leader, someone to direct them to a single purpose...problem was that person was never going to be Ben. His anger was liable to get the better of him and cause him to make a mistake, and even if he could get past that the others wouldn't listen to him. They'd question him, try to change his mind, or outright refuse when he told them to go in guns blazing and not give the enemy a chance to retaliate. They were all just going to continue to get in each others' way and there was nothing Ben could do to stop it. He had to be serious with himself...the others didn't even like him very much. Even Laura had rejected him after he'd made a fool out of himself admitting that he liked her.

Ben found himself at a window, scowling at his own reflection while the lights of the city burned beyond it. How could he fix this? How could he make them see that they were all going to die unless they took the kiddie gloves off? Would it be better if Ben just fought the Ascenders alone? Could he get stronger and take them out one by one? Who could he trust to do what needed to be done if he needed help? James, Todd, Sara? No, he couldn't weaken the team further by asking them to leave with him.

Wait...was he really thinking about leaving? He'd thought about it before, but he found himself planning it all of a sudden. Could he really go through with it? Would it work without SECT and the others or would he just get himself killed? He needed an outside opinion; someone who had done it before, who continued even now to operate on their own. Crap...he needed to talk to Devon.

Ben looked himself in the eyes through his reflection and then turned to head up to the roof.

[Cubey]

"Who's there?"
Ben finds someone on the roof. It's like if the troubled part of SECT always decided to gather on top of buildings, to look at the night sky. It's not Devon this time, but Anne.

"Ah, the angry guy." She notices you. Apparently Anne is pretty much back to normal though - but luckily, normal does not mean haughty or arrogant this time. Instead, she sounds very tired.
"Say..."

"No. Nevermind." She changes her mind after a longer moment of silence.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"What?" Ben prompted her to continue her question as he went to the railing at the edge of the roof. He put his elbows on it and leaned forward against it, looking out over the city as the wind whipped his hair out of his face.

[Cubey]

"Right... indirect probing and changing your mind is idiotic. This isn't a movie." Anne is suddenly annoyed, but you have a feeling that the one she's annoyed at is herself.

She turns and looks up, straight in your eye.
"What are you going to do after this? Do you plan to stay with SECT forever?"

[Haven]

After talking with Patricia, Lorne remained silent. He was painfully aware of his lack of experience with things like this, that he couldn't do or say anything to make a difference--especially when so much else was on his mind. Images of the battle kept running through his head; the dead bodies at his teammates' hands, the injuries the other shifters had taken, and the knowledge that he had made mistakes, tactical errors. Not strategic ones--he wouldn't agree with Ben that talking to the SE was a mistake despite the outcome--but he kept replaying his actions and decisions, seeing where he'd gone wrong and what he could have done differently...

He'd attempted to get some sleep, but even though he was exhausted it didn't work. Instead, he spent the time writing out how things could have gone differently, with accompanying drawn-out diagrams and notes.


Todd, unlike the others, is not all that tired. He had been training like mad to stay in armor for long period of times, and his youthful stamina was amazing. Instead he made his way to where Lorne was staying, and gave a knock at his door.

"Hey, Boss? You awake?"

"Mm. Be right there." Lorne wiped the sweat off his face and shrugged on another shirt before opening the door. "Evening, Todd. What's...what's on your mind?"

[Matar]

"Mm. Be right there." Lorne wiped the sweat off his face and shrugged on another shirt before opening the door. "Evening, Todd. What's...what's on your mind?"

"Yo." Todd invites himself into Lorne's room in typical Todd fashion and and sits down on either a chair or Lorne's bed. "I think I can safely say were both tired as hell. So uh, I'll get straight to the point. Alrighty dude?"

Todd nods his head, not waiting for an answer.

"Things didn't... go very well today. Everyone was scattered, no one was doing what they should have been doing. It was chaotic, and not the youthful kind!" Todd pauses for a moment. "I mean, it's not your fault. It was all of ours. And we need to fix it. So!"

Todd raises a hand to the sky, and holds up three fingers.

"One. I still think you're the best one to be the leader of this family of ours. But, urm, let's be honest. No one is really listening to you. We need to figure something about that, ya know? Either, like, working on making it so people will listen to you, or having you order someone around who can make everyone else do what you say."

Todd brings his ring finger into a fist, leaving two out.

"Two. You're the smart dude. So uh... can you think of anyway to improve out communications when shifted? 'Cause when we shift we can hardly hear each other and that... hurts. Which brings me to..."

Todd brings his middle finger into a fist leaving only one pointing out.

"Three. I think that... well. Too many people are dying. We need some way to... to protect them better or something. I don't know, man. I just think that we can do better then what we're doing right now when it comes to saving people." Todd pauses for a moment. "I... don't know what we can do about it. But I thought I should ask you to see if you can think of anything. Anything is worth a shot, right?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks


"Right... indirect probing and changing your mind is idiotic. This isn't a movie." Anne is suddenly annoyed, but you have a feeling that the one she's annoyed at is herself.

She turns and looks up, straight in your eye.
"What are you going to do after this? Do you plan to stay with SECT forever?"

Ben stayed silent for a moment. "It's funny you should ask that. A little while ago I would have told you that I place all of my trust in SECT and would stay to keep making the world a better place even after the SE's were defeated, but now...After what happened this last time, after all the screw-ups and setbacks we've had, I wonder..." he shook his head. "Why do you ask? Had a change of heart?"

[Haven]

Lorne pauses, before responding.

"I'm...I'm thankful for your trust, but I'm not sure I AM the best leader. I blundered, a lot, during that last encounter--I could have made much more effective choices and...Not that I regret what we did, attempting to talk to the SE. No, that was valuable, despite the fact that it did not end as well as I might have hoped. Actually, you should...er, not to give you homework, but when you've had some time to think about it, to digest it a little--in a few days, you should write a report about the experience. I'm still...I had no idea I could do something like that."

As for our team...perhaps what we need is a little more practice. I actually have a few ideas on where to start with that, now. More like experiments, really.

"Speaking of which, regarding the radio problem, that might be solvable. If we do a few experiments--have you read something while shifted, then while unshifted, say--and compare the sound waves, I might be able to find a way to cancel out the interference."

He's grateful for the distraction--Todd's appearance has evidently kicked him out of the slightly morbid process of reflection he was stuck in, at least for now.

[Matar]

"Well." Todd clicks his tongue. "If you don't think you're fit to be the leader that's fine. But you still come up with the best ideas. If you're not the leader, then you should at least be the... uh... tactile adviser or something."

Todd nods his head with a small grin on his face, but he then frowns.

"But we still need a leader then. The only other people who I trust to do something like that are Andy and Ben." At this Todd pauses. "Well, not Ben. At least not normally. But if he's following your suggestions, then I guess I could handle it... but well. We should gather the whole team together before deciding on something like that."

"And yeah, I'm your Guinea pig. Just tell me what to do and I can help you test whatever. However you want to work it."

[Cubey]

Ben:
"You really don't know?" Anne sighs. The sigh is painful.
"My amplifier's destroyed. Busted, non-functional, gone forever. I cannot be a Shifter anymore. What can I do now? Your friend said he'd join a MSAS team if he wasn't a Shifter... right. Face it, they keep us around only because nobody else can Shift. They are experienced soldiers, and we're just teens. We get in their way."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks


Ben:
"You really don't know?" Anne sighs. The sigh is painful.
"My amplifier's destroyed. Busted, non-functional, gone forever. I cannot be a Shifter anymore. What can I do now? Your friend said he'd join a MSAS team if he wasn't a Shifter... right. Face it, they keep us around only because nobody else can Shift. They are experienced soldiers, and we're just teens. We get in their way."

"I don't think it's that desperate a situation, Anne. They'll get you another amplifier, it'll just take some time, that's all. All the amplifier is is a small tab of Earth Sophium that gets pressed to your skin, really. As soon as they find a suitable chunk they'll reinstate you. It's not like they're going to train and equip a replacement when they have a trained and experienced shifter waiting in the wings. You're at the top of the waiting list." Ben said, taking a look at Anne. He was surprised by the sudden change in her formerly fierce personality. She seemed defeated. "In the meantime, you need to come to terms with yourself and figure out if this is what you really want to be. If you want to have a normal life again, this is your best chance."

"Me...I'm definitely going to continue the fight. Whether I do it here or by myself, I won't give up. The SE's and the Ascenders...they're going to pay for what they've done."

[Cubey]

"I need an amplifier. Normal life? Screw that... I have no future with 'normal' life."
What Anne just said sounded detached from the conversation. It's like if she was listening only half-heartedly, focusing on stuff that's going on inside her own head instead.

But there was a rebellious tone. Maybe she didn't give up yet.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks


"I need an amplifier. Normal life? Screw that... I have no future with 'normal' life."
What Anne just said sounded detached from the conversation. It's like if she was listening only half-heartedly, focusing on stuff that's going on inside her own head instead.

But there was a rebellious tone. Maybe she didn't give up yet.

"I think about it sometimes, but I couldn't have a normal life knowing that the SE's were still out there. Maybe after this I'll settle down somewhere and live like the rest of the world does, but even if I didn't have my amplifier I'd try to do anything I could to help." Ben said, knowing that she wasn't really listening to him. So he changed subjects.

"Hey, I'm bored. Do you want to go and explore the city? I don't feel like staying under SECT's thumb tonight." Ben smirked mischievously.

[Cubey]

Ben:
"After SEs are gone, you return to the daily everyman drudge... that's worse than death." Anne mutters disappointingly. Maybe she was listening after all - how surprising.

"No... I don't like 'hanging around'." She shoots your proposal down. Although Anne did not even sound that arrogant when she did it. On the contrary, she sounds slightly guilty even.
(Rolled sense motive for you)

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Good, because fortunately we'll be doing the opposite of hanging around, which is getting out and exploring. Go or stay, but you better not be using this whole amplifier thing to hide up here." Ben cautioned. "If that's the case then I'll just take you with me and you can be mad about it all you want."

[Cubey]

"I hope for your own good that this wasn't an attempt at ordering me around. I am still a leade..."
Anne had a minor angry outburst, but she pauses it and sighs painfully.

"How pathetic..."
If you're going anywhere, she will follow you, pretending not to care very much.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"They'll probably catch us after a while so let's get going! Infernal Requiem...sing for the dead!" Ben said, holding up his amplifier and calling upon his armor. It appeared in a flash of white fire and in the next instant he had darted toward Anne, picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and leaped off of the roof with her. The flight time wasn't long, but he kept it down enough that she wouldn't be too discomforted by the wind whipping around them. It was more of a jump than a flight, really, and he landed on a dark street closer to the middle of town several miles away. He set Anne down and dismissed his armor so that no one would look out their window at the light show and see them.

"Come on, let's see what's still open." Ben said, grabbing Anne's hand and dragging her along toward downtown. He was enjoying trying to rile her up and get her angry. The apathetic attitude didn't suit the normally fiery girl.

[Cubey]

Ben:
"We'll have to... what? Aaah!"
Anne obviously did not expect you to summon a PSA, grab and carry her. She protests loudly while you are in the air.

"What the hell are you doing?! I can walk on my own! Idiot! That's so stereotypical!" And similar exclamations, some of them followed by a moderately well-aimed (but totally ineffective) punch or kick.

"What are you trying to achieve here? This is bossing me around, dammit! I'm not some maiden in distress who needs to be carried... hey!" She protests after landing, as well. It seems getting her angry was not so difficult after all - she's far less stoic than her idealized Devon.

"What's still open? That sounds like hanging around..."

But further complaints are interrupted, as you hear the sounds of quick, heavy footsteps. Someone nearby is running - in your direction, to be precise.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"You're right, I apologize. Now shut up for a second, okay?" Ben said as he pulled Anne back into the shadows of an alley and crouched down in the heavy shadows behind a dumpster. He made a "shh" motion with a finger to his lips. Then he pointed to his ear and out in the direction where he'd heard the heavy footsteps, indicating that she should listen.

Notice: [roll0]
Stealth: [roll1]

[Cubey]

Anne falls silent, it seems she heard the steps too. You two hide, trying to become one with the darkness - but how successful will it be?

The footsteps get closer, and suddenly someone calls out in a weird way - like if trying to yell and whisper at the same time, but succeeding more of the former than the latter. And you recognize the voice...

"Hey. Hey, anyone here? I want to talk. Anyone here?"
The voice repeats the questions as its owner gets closer. And the owner is undoubtedly the white-haired Thoughts of Ascension shifter! To make it more blatant, you have a visual contact as he runs by the back alley where you landed. But he moves on, not having noticed you.
"Hey, I want to talk."

He did not had his usual long coat on, but rather simple civilian attire. What are you going to do?

Speaking of which, what is Anne going to do? She noticed him too. And her eyes are wide in surprise and her hands start shaking lightly, clenching and unclenching into fists. Is her trauma going to return?

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Stay here and keep out of sight. If anything happens to me, use a payphone and call SECT, alright?" Ben whispered, cupping a hand over Anne's ear. "If he's here there may be more of them, but I have to bring him in if I can. If things go south I'll make enough noise that everyone knows where I am and you can get away in the diversion. Don't argue with me, just go. I'm the only one here who can fight them if I have to." he said in a tone that left no opportunity open for discussion. He gave Anne a reassuring wink and a grin before he slipped out of the ally. "Keep safe, alright? I don't want to have to come after you."

Ben slipped out of the alley and made sure he was well into the street before he made himself known so that no one would know which direction he had come from. He let his feet slap the pavement so that the white-haired shifter would see him, and then gestured toward the side of the road underneath the awning of a closed cafe. He didn't bother with the stage whispering.

As a precaution, Ben kept his amplifier inside of his hoodie's stomach pocket with the other hand clamped down on it, ready to call his armor at a moment's notice.

[Cubey]

Ben was noticed.
"I knew I saw someone landing here. Phew, 'bout time..." The Shifter looks relieved. But he says no more, noticing your beckoning. Once he comes closer though, he continues to talk.

"Hey. I thought I saw a Shifter landing, and guess I was right. So... take me to your leader. I give up. I was playing for the wrong side the whole time."
Relief just emanates from him as he talks.
"There're a few reasons, but the one you must know now... I'm being chased."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Alright, this is how it's going to work. I'm going to call for backup. You're going to stay here and sit on your hands. If someone comes chasing you, I'll fend them off. You just do exactly what my friends tell you to do at all times. Try to shift and I'll assume you're double-crossing me. That, if you hadn't figured it out, would make you a dead man. Understood?" Ben said as he held up his amplifier.

"Infernal Requiem, sing for the dead." he called upon his armor. He didn't want to risk any surprise attacks catching him while he was vulnerable. Then he activated his communicator to HQ, speaking within his helmet without letting the white-haired guy in on the conversation. "Ben to control. I'm calling in an emergency. I've got that white-haired guy from the last SE fight asking for sanctuary and protection from us. He says he's being chased. I'm in town, so you can track my location by my signal. I've got Anne with me, so I'm going to need backup and extraction. Got any special instructions for me?"

[Cubey]

"Yeah, yeah. No need to tell me that twice." The Ascender isn't really that stressed over the perspective.

Ben manages to contact mission control instantly.
"What are you doing outside... no, that comes later. Stay where you are. A team is on its way - we will extract you from your current position."
The one to answer was not the other miss Darius, but Clayton. Does the Commander ever sleep?

He may sleep or not, but that does not mean SECT does not make mistakes - because although this message was not meant for anyone but Ben, but other Shifters got it on their amplifiers' communicators too. Or maybe it was deliberate? Who knows.

At the same time, at Ben's end, things get a bit pear-shaped. The person he was with decided that she won't stay hidden behind the dumpster, but rather go forward and see what's going on with you two.

"It's you..." Anne gazes at the Shfter and it looks like she's closing in towards the line of snapping - she's not close yet, but getting there and fast. And you're not sure if it's the 'kill everyone with sharp tools' type of snapping, or the 'go catatonic' kind.

"Oh... you're the girl from before... sorry about earlier..." The Ascender noticed her too. He scratches the back of his head with an abashed expression.

"You... broke my amplifier." Closing in to snapping...

To make things even more interesting, one more person is closing in - an adult man is running down the street. He looks unarmed and it seems you noticed him before he noticed you, so you have a moment to react.

[Tengu_temp]

Whether Lorne decides to tag along or not, Emi's course of action is the same.
"You're back. Okay, let's go." She summons Genesis, Shifts and simply flies through the wall, without even changing the stance she's in. Emi returns back to normal once she's landed on the closest building's roof, though. Her plan for the nighttime expedition is as follows:
1. Look for interesting spots, places that work on her imagination. This includes harmless locations such as parks, hard to reach ones like rooftops (preferably reached via Genesis), and potentially dangerous ones like back alleys.
2. Check what businesses are open at night. Emi avoids crowded places such as clubs, but a cinema that shows a movie she might be interested in or a shop that grabs her attention are completely different matters.
3. Get something to eat and drink at some point, and ask if the others want to as well. Worryingly, she'll try to order alcohol, though nothing hard.

All the time, Emi keeps a lost in thought, one could say out there disposition, seemingly disinterested in anything that doesn't grab her attention. She doesn't talk much.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Understood, control. Holding position." was the Commander's reply.

"Not now, Anne." Ben said, taking Anne's wrist in his hand and applying just a tiny bit of pressure so that she'd know that he could move her even if she didn't want to be moved. "I told you to get out of the way, but fine. Stay here until the extraction team gets here and don't do anything stupid." he said, pulling her around behind him so that he was between the two of them.

When Ben noticed the man running down the street, he stepped in front of the two others and nodded his helmeted head in his direction to point the white-haired shifter's attention towards towards him. "Friend of yours?" he asked bluntly.

[Fri]

"Uh... Adrian... man who catch fly with chopsticks'll be able to spit nails and crap thunder... "

James' amplifer wakes him from whatever dream he's having. He didn't change his clothings before crashing, so he simply goes out of his room, to find that none of his friends are there.

He then tries to find any member of SECT that he can recognize. "Huh? What happened?"

[Cubey]

Emi and people that are with her:
Medford has quite a few parks, so Emi can find some nice places to hang around at. There's plenty of backalleys too, although she gets interrupted before getting into any trouble.
No really interesting places are open that late at night. The town has quite a music industry going on (something you might be interested in), but all associated shops are closed at night. You do manage to have a meal at some kind of bar, if you choose to eat right away, otherwise you get interrupted by mission control.
If you try to order booze, you get asked for an ID.

James:
"One of your friends found an enemy Shifter!" You manage to find Matilda, who was running through the corridor and almost crashes into you as she does it.
"Anne is with him and she doesn't have an amplifier. We gotta move out and help them! That Shifter wants to surrender but he said he's followed."

Ben:
"Yeah..." The Ascender got a little bit more pale as he notices who's running towards you.

You notice more details as he gets closer. A dark-skinned man in his early 30s, wearing a sports jacket and simple pants. He probably noticed you too by now, but he doesn't show signs of stopping. Fortunately, it doesn't seem he's going to draw a gun or summon a PSA either. For now.

[Tengu_temp]

The music shops interest Emi. She stops in front of the largest among these that don't have any people around. "Want to see what they have here?", she asks the others, pointing to her amplifier. "We won't take anything... We'll just look around."

After being asked for her ID, Emi just orders an ordinary soda instead. She doesn't seem to be discouraged at all, as if she simply ordered the wrong thing by mistake.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"What are his armor's powers? What should I watch out for? If you're serious about coming over to the other side then I need to know these things." Ben replied as he gave the dark-skinned man in the sports jacket a single warning shot. He held out his hand toward the Ascender and let loose with a clipped blast of white-hot fire that turned the road just in front of him into a boiling pot-hole.

"Do I have your attention? This man is under SECT protection. Get the hell out of here or the next time I'm going to put one of those in you." he said calmly, but forcefully.

[kamikasei]

Then

Oh this is not good at all. Cat looks over at Andy (and Lorne?) somewhat despairingly, then summons her own armour and follows Emi out through the wall. Best to keep up with her, at least. She sticks close to Emi when she goes in to any shops or bars - to protect her, or to quickly haul her away if she flips out? Who can say? (The answer is yes.)

When Emi raises any eyebrows with strange requests, Cat does her best to smooth things over. Nothing to see here, folks. (([roll0] - +4 for any ephebophiles in the audience.))

"Let's not. The owners would freak out when they saw the security tapes." Cat's able to make the stunning deductive leap that an appeal to rules or propriety won't be much use against Emi at the moment, but maybe actual empathy will get through.

Now

Cat comms Command straight away. "O'Donovan. I'm with a few of the others from the Seeberg team. We can go straight to Ben if you give us his location." She looks around at the others to confirm they're on board.

[Fri]

"Oh, is that so?" James' face turns stern. Any sign of sleepyness had gone from his face.

Noticing that his team mates aren't there, James activated his amplifier right there and then. "Crow, Grey Fowl."

He then shifts and jumps straight to the building's roof, moving straight through each floor like a giant ghostly chicken and ignoring anyone he encounters in each room.

He unshifts at the roof and calls through his amplifier, his scarf fluttering in the city's cold, night breeze. "Who got the Ascender? Where are you?"

[Cubey]

Ben:
"He's the huge bronze armor... wait! Let me solve this!" The white-haired Ascender explains the other man's powers, and then reacts once you send a warning shot.

"I must prevent him from defecting. I will not use violence, but I cannot let him leave." The black man was not very moved by the blast of fire, but he at least stops in his tracks.

"Sage, come with me. You know the Big Guy's plans aren't as pure and noble, right? You must realize that by now, even I did!" The defector yells out to him, whether he gets your permission or not.

"Yes, I do."

"Then... why? That makes no sense!"

"It is not my place to judge others. I have a debt to repay."

There is no response from the white-haired man. So much of persuasion... what are you going to do?

Everyone:
You receive a ping on your communicator, that shows you Ben's position relative to yours. He is close and if you use whatever super-movement power your PSA might have, you can reach him very quick!

[Tengu_temp]

"Security tapes, you say? That's right, it could be problematic... Let's do something else..." Emi looks disappointed this time, but she continues her almost-sleepwalking expedition towards other locations.
"Pity we're in the midland... I want to hear the sea..."

---

When the message from Clayton comes, Emi doesn't respond. She comments aloud instead, in a tone that's more philosophical than annoyed.
"Once again our duties catch up to us... We're supposed to be adults when it's expected of us, but when that is over, we're treated as kids once again..."
She raises her amplifier and summons Genesis.
"We should get going. Ben needs our help."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Look, I'm not one for negotiating, but I'll give you a chance to come in with this guy if you want sanctuary. We don't have to fight, but the only way you're taking him is through me...and I'm not in the mood to step aside just now." Ben said. "You sound like you know the score about the Ascenders' leadership and their real goal. You don't have to be their pawn. So what's it going to be?"

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[Fri]

"Tsch..." James gives a bemused smile behind his helmet for the lack of answer that he gets as he watches her amplifier blinking. He then looks toward the sleeping city below her, with scarf still billowing.

"Fowls aren't too good at flying, but..."

And he jumps to the night sky, gliding to the signal as a black and red shadow above the city's sleepers.

[kamikasei]

"Pity we're in the midland... I want to hear the sea..."

"We'll go for a walk when we get back to the island," Cat offers. "Why don't we go back to that park we passed?"

---

Cat follows suit in summoning Oisin, finding the nearest uncontained body of water and drawing off enough to make an icy platform that'll bear Andy's weight. "Let's go."

[Cubey]

Ben:

There is no verbal response. The man just lunges forward, his upper body suddenly encased in a bronze headless statue torso that you have seen twice before. His now huge arms try to pummel you, but he's too slow and you can avoid it easily.

(Technically, if you roll 14 or above on initiative you can move before him. But he still misses, so there is no difference.

Everyone else arrives once this round ends.)

[Drascin]

Andy pokes Emi's head slightly, with an amused but concerned expression. "Yeah, we should stop a bit. You seriously look like you're going to fall asleep standing"

------

However, Andy's expression turns to severe alarm on hearing the Commander's message and as the others transform as well he starts running almost instantly and literally transforms mid-run - in this terrain, he's slow, and time is of the essence (since his earth surfing is rather hard to do in concrete, and somehow tearing a hole in the ground in the middle of the city just for expediency doesn't seem the best of ideas to him). "God****ingdamnit" he protests between breaths. "Can't we leave for a single night out without something going to hell?". As they go past near a pond, though, Cat summons a platform, which is very welcome and which he boards with a jump, as it saves him from having to run all the way there and makes it so he doesn't slow them down. They should be there in a moment...

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"Fine, then. Let's go, ugly!" Ben shouted as he neatly sidestepped the bronze titan's first attack. "Anne, Whitey, you guys get out of here!" he added as a flaming sword suddenly appeared in his hand. He added his off-hand to the hilt and tried to drive the blade of the sword through the over-extended Ascender's stomach and out the other side.

Strike 15 - Power Attacking for Full: [roll0]
Are Hero Points refilled?

[Fri]

A blur of black falls from the sky, hits a cluster of trashcan with a lot of noises, and from the mess, Grey Fowl rise, trying to look as cool as ever.

He looks around, trying to deduce the situation, and realizes that it's beyond the capability of his mind to comprehend.

"A Date? With Anne? Ben?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Okay, let's go back..." Emi turns around. "I'm not sleepy, I feel fine. I just... want to go back home, to the base. It's been only a short time since we left, and I miss it already. Funny, isn't it? So much for the human nature, longing for adventure and exploration..."

---

Emi doesn't comment further. She spreads her energy wings and flies towards Ben's position, staying at a low altitude (though not low enough to accidentally hit people or cars) and maneuvering between the buildings at a high speed.

[Cubey]

Ben's stab wasn't dodged.
It was ignored - your flaming sword simply slides off the Shifter's tough bronze shell. This won't be easy...

"No, wait. Let me do it. It must be a duel between comrades, and you stay away!" The white-haired Ascender is protesting as you two start to fight. As for Anne, she says nothing. You can't see her very well, as it seems she is back at the hiding spot behind the dumpster.

(Anyone who rolled above 14 on initiative, including Ben, can move now. No new hero points yet.)

[kamikasei]

(([roll0] - wait, why did I roll that?))

Cat brings Andy to the ground and melts his support out from under his feet, sweeping it around to freeze the bronzed Ascender in place.

(Snare 10, attack roll 26 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8480341&postcount=1280).)